Finding your fit in Buffalo

Kaylan Porter ’18 has never shied away from a challenge. As an undergraduate psychology major, she took physics courses just for fun. One summer, she backpacked solo through Europe. And after graduating early she set off for a sojourn in Indonesia.

So when she decided on the University at Buffalo School of Law, it’s no surprise that she was up for the challenge.

“I did quite a bit of research,” Porter says. “I got quite a few very generous scholarship offers, and I considered some big-name schools. But as I started picturing myself as a law student, it seemed like Buffalo was my top option.”

She hasn’t looked back. “It was incredible,” she says of her first year in law school. “I already have a support group. People are like, ‘We’re so glad to have you, we’ll give you any help you need.’

And she has found at UB law a deeper way of thinking about some of the issues that engage her intellectually. “What got me most excited in undergrad was my gender studies courses and thinking about the intersection of race, gender and sexuality,” Porter says. “I want to have a career working somewhere in civil liberties and social justice. I figure that I can have the greatest impact with a law degree in my back pocket.

“Coming in as a woman and from the LGBT community, a lot of these issues really hit home for me.”