November 14, 2024

Service to law: A journey of dedication and purpose

It’s fall 2023, and a new chapter has begun for Marine Corps veteran Silas Grams. After years of service, personal sacrifice and a desire to give back, it was time to take the next step in fulfilling a goal his younger self never thought he’d achieve. He took a leap of faith by enrolling at Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University as a transfer student. The dream of being an ASU Law student and becoming a lawyer, once a distant and unattainable aspiration, was now closer than ever.

His mother raised Grams alongside his brother and sister in Arizona. He said law school was never a realistic goal because of the financial barriers it would have taken to get there. So it was quite a journey before he finally walked through the doors of ASU Law.

“For me, ASU Law was the gold standard for law school. I come from a single mother who was a middle school teacher, and Ivy League schools were out of the question. However, I knew I wanted to go to the best law school in my home state of Arizona,” Grams said.

Grams said the pursuit of higher education was always important to his mother. She passed away when he was 16 years old, but he still did what he could to get into college after her death.

It was his sophomore year of college when one of his old high school friends, who had joined the military, came home to get married. Grams admired the dress blues his friend wore to his wedding, sparking a new interest in him.

In November 2017, Grams pushed pause on his education to join the United States Marine Corps.

He enlisted as a Bulk Fuel Specialist, where he was attached to an engineer support battalion. His job consisted of setting up forward arming and refueling points for aircraft, testing fuels and protecting operations. He eventually earned a secondary role as a Combat Marksmanship coach, training recruits in marksmanship as part of basic training and helping them become riflemen. This is one of the accomplishments he still looks back on today.

“I still remember the names of all the people I served with. I do my best to keep in contact with them,” Grams said. “The most memorable experience I have during it all is training the next generation of Marines to be efficient in shooting.”

As a Marine, the thought of completing his education was still in the back of his mind, especially becoming a lawyer.

While working full time for the Marine Corps, he was able to finish school, get his bachelor’s degree and study for the Law School Admissions Test. He also married another service member.

Grams said the military opened many doors for him now that he had education benefits. After deciding not to continue on active duty, he moved with his wife to her next duty station in Oklahoma and applied to the nearest law school. However, the hope of being at ASU Law still lived.

During his first few years of law school, he had an externship with the Army Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps in Fort Sill, Oklahoma. During his externship, he got his feet wet in nearly every aspect available, from the legal aid office where he helped veterans and families with wills and evictions to administrative law where he worked as a mediator between commanders and service members. He also spent weeks with both defense and prosecution teams.

While he learned the ins and outs of it all, Grams said one situation stuck out to him and solidified what he wanted to do in law and who he wanted to help.

“I was working in the legal aid office when a widow whose husband passed away from service-related cancer came in. She was now a single mom with three daughters. I remember she was crying in the office because her landlord would use a key to go into her apartment,” Grams recalled. “It was a rough situation. He was also charging her thousands of dollars to replace appliances, and at one point they went a few months without air conditioning.”

This moment made him realize there were other similar situations that military members were facing, and he wanted to help.

While doing his externship, he worked hard to be at the top of his class before finally submitting his application to ASU Law. He was accepted.

Back in fall 2023, Grams was the father of a one-year-old, back home where his mother raised him, and he was finally able to call himself an ASU Law student.

Grams is expected to graduate with his Juris Doctor degree in spring 2025. He now serves in the reserves as a platoon commander at a bulk fuel company at Luke Air Force Base in Glendale, Arizona. Once he graduates he hopes to work toward opening a law firm and gaining the financial independence to help veterans and their families pro bono.

Each fall, ASU hosts Salute to Service Week to honor veterans, active-duty service members and military families. ASU Law joins this campus-wide tribute, recognizing the sacrifices and dedication of those who have served.

 

Written by Crystal Jimenez