Melissa Winan’s Experience with ANU
For years, pursuing a career in law remained a dream on the back burner for Melissa Winans. Between supporting her husband through a decade of active-duty military service in the Marines, raising two children, working full-time, and earning both an associate and bachelor’s degree online, life was filled with responsibilities that came first. With a strong work ethic instilled by her mother and a determination to keep moving forward, Melissa built a successful career spanning across customer service, operations, management, and government services. But the goal of working in the legal field never faded. Inspired by the belief that it’s never too late to pursue a passion, she enrolled in American National University’s Paralegal Studies Certificate program, viewing it as the opportunity to finally turn a lifelong interest in law into a new career path. Her dedication to her education earned her the title of Term Trailblazer in her final term!
Working in law has been Melissa’s dream for as long as she can remember, but life changed the course of her plans as she started her family and supported her husband through active-duty service. When her husband finally was discharged from the Marines, they had difficulties getting him his full disability benefits. Upon hiring a legal team, working with a “phenomenal” paralegal, they were able to get what he deserved within three weeks of the process. “It was that point for me when I looked at him and was like, ‘I’m going back to school!’ That was my turning point right there,” she explains.
When Melissa began looking for her Paralegal education, she already had one of the key skills that all Paralegals need: research. “I did a lot of research. I knew that I absolutely, hands-down, needed an ABA-approved school,” she says, “I want that ABA stamp on there. So I went further, I looked into the Military Friendly, because I did utilize Chapter 35 [benefits]. So I’m like ‘who has this program? Who could I possibly have classes with veterans or their family members?’ And it was 100% [ANU].” When she finally applied, ANU’s financial services team was able to help her through the process of utilizing her benefits. “The financial aid team definitely did help me. They had to walk me through not just the student loans again – because it’s been 10 or 12 years, I mean I have no idea what I’m doing anymore, so they definitely walked me through that.
And then they definitely helped me as far as utilizing my Chapter 35 benefits, because I had never used them before, I didn’t know how it worked. And they told me how it worked and walked me through it! They were a life saver on that part.”
Now that she has graduated, Melissa is working to get into the Paralegal field in places she hopes to help and benefit military personnel, veterans, and their families. Once she gets into the field, she knows her ANU education will have her prepared to jump into it “100%, hands-down.” She explains that earning her Paralegal Studies certificate has been harder than earning her previous bachelor’s degree. “That just bounces back with having to do everything right,” she explains. “Knowing that if you make a mistake, that clerk is going to send it right back! You have to not just find stuff on your own, but you have to utilize yourself and what you know.” She goes on to say that one of the very first classes she took in her program prepared her for the rest of the education she had ahead. “It was getting into LexisNexis, how to research LexisNexis, how to write, beginning that IRAC. That [class] in itself really homed in on what skills I was able to gain from that. And then going deeper into it, I wanna say Torts with Dean Notz, she really made sure we knew how to do an IRAC analysis. Come to find out what I thought I was doing correctly, I really only was doing it about 75%. There was more I should have done – and so now I do know how to do that correctly and that will stick with me for sure!” She says these two classes, Legal Research & Writing and Torts and Personal Injury, prepared her for everything she would experience within the field.
“Completing this program totally rewired my brain on how I write, how I think, how I look at things, how I research, how I raise my children!”
When asked which of her professors have left a positive impact on her, she responds, “each and every one of them have.” She goes on to name several: Professor Conrick, Professor Henderson, Dean Notz, and Professor Clark. “Yes, they each teach their own ways, but they give you their own perspectives. So going into it and having active practicing attorneys or active paralegals that are also instructors, you are getting all aspects of everybody’s brains! And I think that’s amazing.”
Melissa’s future goals include a five-year goal of getting into her career working with veterans. She also sees herself moving into a senior role or a management role. Upon reflecting on her goals, she states, “I don’t think I would have gotten at least to this point of actively applying to federal jobs if I hadn’t have gone through this program.”
Would she recommend ANU to others? “I actually already have done that!” She explains that she is part of several groups on Facebook for Paralegals and recommends the program there. “I have recommended ANU because they are an ABA program that just recently got their recertification for several years down the road. But not just that – even though it’s online, you still have that face-to-face time that is required. So you’re still in class for two hours whenever you do have class time,” she says. “I have done online school where they did not have lectures or class time, and then I’ve done it with ANU. And I would prefer [ANU]. I think you learn much better when you have somebody teaching you face-to-face and you’re interacting personally with your peers and instructors.”
Her advice to new Paralegal students is “to listen to the professors. Because they know what they’re doing, and they know what they’re talking about.” She says that students should be prepared to be humbled by what they do not know. “But it’s a great experience, and I would do it all over again with ANU! I really felt like I was part of something that was close-knit and not just doing something online.”
