From Rodeo Queen to Law Student: First-year Law Student Is About Education

This article is part of a series featuring the entering class of 2012. 

This year’s incoming class of students at the UNLV William S. Boyd School of Law has a wide variety of students from a wide variety of backgrounds. One in particular has saddled herself with a busy schedule, but said she feels ready to take the bull by the horns.

First-year law student Harmoney Leavitt served as the 2007 Clark County Rodeo Queen and spent two years as the rodeo queen for Western Heritage in Las Vegas. In those positions, she got to do a great deal in terms of serving the community.

“I went to schools and promoted Western Heritage. They asked me to keep the title a second year in order to help get the organization on its feet,” she said.

Western Heritage & Education, Inc. is “a non-profit organization designed to promote and preserve the western way of life,” according to its website.

“I was considered to be a spokesperson for the organization and made sure our horses were where they needed to be for flag presentations, grand entry, pushing cattle – clearing the arena of cattle after an event they are used in – etc.,” she said. “I was often in the stands and would just be a PR person for the rodeo. I would explain some of the misconceptions for what was happening in the events.”

She added that her title as Rodeo Queen gave her a chance to talk to kids who looked up to her.

“I used my title [as Rodeo Queen] to help children understand how important education is,” she said.

She found law to be something she enjoyed through working with attorneys and said she chose Boyd because she was a local Las Vegan and because she knew the law school’s ratings were on the rise.

Currently, she is in the part-time evening program. She continues to work outside of Boyd, is married, and still owns horses.

“I keep a schedule and if it’s not on the schedule, chances are it won’t get done,” Leavitt said. “It’s important for me to let each [aspect of my life] know when it is their time and that they all are still a priority.”

She said her biggest goal this year at Boyd is to learn the legal language so reading the material comes quicker.

“I want to set a good foundation to make the next few years easier,” Leavitt said.