CSU was the only school that I considered, and there are a couple of reasons for that, but a big one was that I came to prospective students like weekends in 2018. And Dean Fisher was sort of laying out some unique aspects of the school. And he brought up the Space Law Center. And that had never occurred to me before.
This is the location that I wanted the everything that I wanted for a law school, and also has a space law program.
The purpose of the center is to train the next generation of space lawyers, which the world needs, because we rely ever more on the infrastructure of outer space. And it's growing, growing and growing. And we need smart lawyers that are able to help regulate that activity, so it is sustainable.
Working with professors Sunhahl is great. He's one of a kind, I've never met a professor or a teacher like him, while he makes everything very fun and very unique professor, so that was one of the greatest teachers here. And he so renowned in the space law field. So learning from somebody that is at the foundational level is so unique and so great. We research any of his policy needs that he needs help them put together symposiums that are going on anything that needs Research we basically do for him.
Projects involving the militarization and the expanding use of outer space as a warfighting domain. But also on asteroid mining, the extraction of natural resources.
Working with Professor Sunhahl is a really exciting opportunity, I think, especially because he's been working in space law for so long. And he is one of the few space lawyers that I've heard of in Cleveland, that has worked in the space law field for multiple decades.
We cover such a broad range of research and of law and policy, and it would just sort of be like this open research project to go accumulate everything I could possibly find on a subject. And then he would later use that while he was developing an article or a presentation. So he'd have more of a basis of knowledge.
So it's an example of our students words, actually finding their way into space law.
Working on the Research Council, and having these opportunities is very exciting. You're contributing to things that are actually being published. And that isn't something that's available in other avenues and other organizations. It's very collaborative. And it's bringing together a really small community that is stretched out across the world. So it's, it's the connectivity is really exciting.
We have a space law blog. So I'm looking into topics to put on our blog posts to make sure that it's current, and people are seeing something weekly, so that students here can know more more about space law, and then they can share it with their friends. So now, people know space law exists.
Global Space Law Center has just announced the creation of a space law certificate. And so this is a type of credential that can be earned by our law students to share with the world that they have received an in depth education in space law.
Not every law school offers space law courses. And I know that not many law schools have spaced law certificates. So I think if a student is coming to this law school has interest in space law at all, or thinks they may. This is the place to learn about that. And to figure that out during your second year of law school.
Space Law is, I think, a very interesting topic to most people, and it's excellent cocktail party conversation. But it's much more than that. It is a field that offers job opportunities for our students, and their job opportunities. Not all students are aware of, because it is a newly expanding industry.
I came here because of the Space Law Center. But it didn't occur to me that it could be a real career path. And it is something that people do and something that people build their life off of. So I'm excited to see where it takes me.
It's something that challenged me I really want to go into criminal defense and anything criminal law, but I wanted to do something that would push me out of my barrier and out of my wheelhouse, and I felt that space law was a very unique and different niche. Its own field in the corporate law world. That's a different paths. I really liked that aspect about it.
I don't necessarily know what path I'm going to go down but I do like the option to pursue something so exciting and so new at the forefront of pushing policy.
There's definitely a lot of ways to get involved in space law and get involved in space law very efficiently very early.
I definitely tell other students that there's a bunch of advantages by going into space law. And there's a bunch of career opportunities that you would never know that are there.
There aren't many places in this world, let alone this country to study space law. There are a couple of other programs but very few. And so students have the opportunity here at Cleveland State University, to really have a hands on experience in shaping space law. And that won't be found anywhere else.