Academic All-Big Ten Chooses Boyd School of Law

First-year student Sarah Jaynelle Killer was an Academic All-Big Ten in softball and a National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-American Scholar-Athlete at Purdue University. She also served as a volunteer coach for Wickenburg, Arizona, Little League Softball for ages 16 and under during the 2006 and 2007 summers.

1L Sarah Jaynelle Killer ‘12

Matching her softball skills is her academic aptitude. Sarah was the Valedictorian of the Wickenburg High School class of 2006, graduating with a perfect 4.00 grade point average.

While at Purdue, Sarah was named to the Dean’s List and to the Athletic Director’s and Coach’s Honor Rolls. Graduating a year early in 2009 with Liberal Arts Honors, her bachelor's degrees in communication and political science hold the added distinction of the Purdue's University Honor's Program.

A pitcher, Sarah underwent two surgeries during her sophomore season to repair a pinched vein affecting her right arm. She finished her career as a Boilermaker in the softball office and shared her academic aptitude by serving as a tutor for other student-athletes.

Softball, however, is not Sarah’s only long-term pursuit. She knew she wanted to be a lawyer ever since a sixth grade field trip to a courthouse. While there, she said she “found observing the trials very interesting and decided on the spot that it was the career for me; meanwhile my fellow classmates fell asleep in their seats.”

Later, a special college course revitalized her still simmering interest in the law. “I majored in political science and communication,” she said, “but it was my constitutional law class . . . that confirmed law was the path for me. I was actually taking the class when I took the LSAT and began my applications.”

Boyd was her choice because it was the best fit of all the law schools she was admitted to. She loves the “real cooperative family atmosphere here,” and she is attracted to “a young law school which allows us to be innovative.”

Sarah sees these innovative opportunities “in all of Boyd's programs and opportunities . . . from the clinic programs to law review to an excellent moot court.

Not having forgotten her special sixth grade field trip, she came to law school with an interest in criminal prosecution, but after exposure to a few classes, she has developed an interest in civil litigation, and so for now she is keeping her options open.