New JD student
Paige Scalf grew up in Minneapolis, and earned a Bachelor's degree in music and a PhD in cognitive neuroscience, both at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana.
Paige has been well-acquainted with Tucson since 2011, when she was hired in a tenure-track position in the University of Arizona's Department of Psychology. In the spring of 2014, she decided to make a lateral move to Durham University in the UK, where she was an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology and the director of the Durham University Neuroimaging Centre.
"Between accepting that position and actually moving there, I met my husband, who practices law in Tucson. We split our time between Tucson and Durham from 2014 to 2018, and we have a three-year-old daughter. We really loved our time in England, but living on two continents with a child was pretty challenging."
Paige says that being married to an attorney was a great way to discover how fascinating the practice of law is!
"The University of Arizona has a great law program, and that was an important factor in the decisions we made about the steps our family should take so that we could live together in one place."
As she begins the study of law, Paige is interested in a number of areas. She sees intellectual property as a good fit for someone with her science background and has a personal interest in immigration law based in her time living in the UK.
"I have ... been an immigrant ... and experienced some challenges with the home office over my infant daughter's visa. This has given me a strong personal interest in immigration law and the havoc that immigration officials can wreck when they fail to properly apply it."
In her first few weeks of law school, Paige says that her small sections in contract law and legal writing have been a great way to get to know her classmates.
"I am so impressed by their energy and initiative! It is amazing how much many of them have accomplished at such a young age."
And, as a non-traditional student, she values the diversity of her class:
"It enriches our experience to have people from so many different cultures and different stages of life. It is particularly interesting to have individuals in our class who have practiced law in their country of origin, because it deepens the framework from which we understand American law. And of course, it is much easier to be a non-traditional student in a class full of non-traditional students!"
Finally, Paige is extremely appreciative of the help and support of the College of Law admissions team. She is likewise honored to have received a Dean's Achievement Award and is grateful for that funding support.
Welcome, Paige.
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