Dr. Maya Angelou left us with the following words: “[P]eople will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Small gestures can have a tremendous impact. Collectively such experiences create a culture. Before I started as a summer associate at Bilzin Sumberg this month, a small yet validating gesture led me to submit an application for employment to the firm.

It was March 2020, days before the world shut down. My day had a rocky start with a “Breakfast with the Bench” event at 7:30 a.m., where a law student’s nightmare came true: I spilled coffee on my white shirt—the same shirt I needed to wear to my interview at another firm later that day between my second and third classes. #MiamiTraffic made the prospect of returning home to change my shirt a pipedream.

But, it wasn’t the Miami traffic that got me; it was the interview at the firm. I received a less-than-warm greeting from the receptionist before waiting thirty minutes for the interviewing attorney. While the interview went fine, upon my departure I was informed by the receptionist that parking wasn’t validated for interviews. So, I returned to campus and entered class late in my stained shirt, with $21 less in my pocket.
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