Africa-Press – Liberia. On March 21, 2022, Samuelle Hare will hold the torch at the front of the queue of graduates of the Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law, when the University of Liberia celebrates its One Hundredth and Second convocation ceremonies. Remember her name because it’s not the last time you will hear it. Many in her peer group and beyond say she’s headed for the top and when you meet her for just a minute, you know they are right. She’s an intriguing character –smart, beautiful, a devoted Christian and outgoing. A concoction rarely brewed, yet she has it all wrapped in the charm of a woman who knows where she’s headed. That’s not lost on her.
Samuelle’s rise as valedictorian of her class is a tale of endurance, gravitas, and humility. For those who don’t know, she passed the entrance exams on her second trial. “I was disappointed when I didn’t get in on my first attempt,” she says. “It was both humbling and humiliating.” She concedes. “Humbling because now I know that what I provided on my first attempt to enter law school wasn’t enough, I had to do more. Humiliating because I now had to face my family and other loved ones and tell them that I failed the Law School’s entrance exam. You know that can be disarming. A complete nail in my balloon.” Still, she persevered. A woman made of steel and substance.
She did enter on her second attempt and since then, she’s been “kicking dust” as signified by her cumulative grade point average of 3.729, a Magna Cum Laude. In the history of the Law School, just two other women have achieved that feat. Samuelle’s the third. Her GPA is the highest ever attained by a woman at the Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law. Astounding!
How did she do it? “There’s no secret,” she says. “It’s the same old do well principle. Sit on your butt for hours both in class and in your study room; study, study, study. Sit the four or five hour tests. Analogize, and distinguish facts. And when you are through, dust off and move on to the next task,” She says with a smile that belied the work that she must have put in. “It’s easy, right?” she ends with a wink.
But it wasn’t easy. Her mother cannot forget the night that she watched her daughter not get a single minute of sleep. “I nearly cried that night. I kept on asking her to atleast take a five minute rest but she wouldn’t bulge. But now that I see what all those late nights have yielded, I cannot be more proud of my daughter’s achievement, my baby, my belly born. God has done me well,” Minister Debbie Hare says. That note to the divine isn’t just a mother’s premonition, Samuelle is deeply religious. Even while juggling Law school, she didn’t miss bible studies or choir practices. She juggled them all. “It was hard but rewarding,” she states. “My God keeps me grounded and gives me perspective in this world. He’s a constant reminder of why I’m even into this. For justice, for truth and for the love of mankind.
This I will always be true to.” So, what does she see in her future? “I know that I have to settle down into the practice for a few years and then get a graduate degree. I hope I’ll be able to enter a top law school abroad to prepare me for corporate law practice. My passion is to come back and work right here in my country and do the utmost good that I can in my own small way. God willing, I will.”
For now, Samuelle has to juggle graduation day planning with preparation for the funeral of her dearest father, Mr. Sam Hare Jr., who she lost just one week ago and who will be buried on April 8, 2022. It’s a pretty low time for her as she was very fond of her father and he had always looked forward to welcoming the first lawyer in the family. “I am down and miss him so dearly now. Especially at this memorable milestone in my life. But I will rise again.” And rise she will because from the ashes, comes the phoenix. Remember the name. Samuelle Hare. Lawyer extraordinaire!!!
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