Throughout her life, Mia Goldman has always been curious about the law – the laws regulating her father’s small business, the laws that have held the United States together since its founding and most definitely the laws she needs to know to be an effective team member at the real estate law firm that currently employs her.

That curiosity will reach a major milestone this June, when Goldman graduates from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo with a degree in sociology and a concentration in pre-law. And a day later, she will also graduate from the UCLA Extension Paralegal Studies Certificate Program, which has earned her a promotion at the law firm and will contribute to her eventual journey to law school.

“The law is really something that can alter every person’s life,” she said. “It impacts everyone, often in a very specific way. I’ve always wanted to understand that. Why? Why is it such a controlling factor, and something that serves justice to people or that is unjust for other people? That was the foundational interest for me.”

As a young girl, Goldman helped her father start a beauty product business and was fascinated by the laws that governed that. What were the rules and regulations on things like trademarks? How did they affect what he was able to do?

“Starting a small business is a very big family matter,” she said. “When you’re starting off small everybody is on board. I helped with social media and in other areas where I could.”

In high school, Goldman enjoyed her government and legal history classes the most, and she has spent hours reading about legal theory and constitutional law.

“It’s always been something that not only was interesting to me to read about, but also the why. Why were these laws created and why are they a great principle for how everything runs?” she said.

That continued interest nudged her toward pre-law in college. Her strong drive to succeed made her seek any advantage she could find to better prepare for law school.

“I’m from a family where nobody has a career in law,” Goldman said. “From my own experience and what I have learned, that can be a little bit of a disadvantage. So that pushed me to get an internship early on so I could build my network.”

During her freshman year of college, she interned for a judge at the San Luis Obispo Superior Court. While the criminal aspect of law that she witnessed wasn’t for her, the judge did connect her with his wife, who worked in real estate law and offered her a job. Goodman helped with litigation and transactional law – work related to founding LLCs and corporations, renewing SOIs and trademarks.

It was engrossing, but intimidating. After talking with paralegals at her firm, they strongly recommended that she obtain a paralegal certificate and become a paralegal before she applied to law school.

“That has since been proven true through completing the UCLA Extension program,” Goldman said. “You learn so much through gaining the certificate and now working as a paralegal alongside an attorney.”

In some ways, a paralegal is to an attorney, as a nurse is to a doctor. Paralegals draft documents, connect with clients and have a deep understanding of the laws being used in different cases.

“They lay a lot of the groundwork for the attorneys to work off of,” Goldman said. “For me, getting the certificate was the best option. I was able to get a hands-on education. You learn about so many more topics than just the limited range from the office you work at.”

Goldman said the UCLA Extension Paralegal Studies Certificate Program was attractive because of its prestige and for its openness to her joining the program, despite being a full-time college student.

“It ended up being the only school I applied to,” she said. “Once I got in, I immediately knew I had chosen the right extension program. It was very clear to me that these instructors were very well chosen. They were all well-spoken and understood the situations we were in. People like me, I interned at a couple of places, I’m still fresh and didn’t know the definitions of everything. The instructors understood and were very thorough.”

Goldman chose the accelerated program and was able to put a lot of what she learned in class to work at her real estate law firm.

“The education through the lectures and everyday materials, having that when a task was handed to me at work, I understood better what was ahead of me,” she said. “I would say 100 percent that through this education I have learned so much and it has given me such a great advantage. I don’t know how well I would be doing without the program.”

After completing the certificate program in March, Goldman was promoted to paralegal at her firm. She plans on attending her back-to-back graduations on June 14 and 15 – a much needed celebration after such a sprint to the finish line. Then she will take some time off from school and concentrate on her job as a paralegal.

“I feel very accomplished. I’m grateful for the opportunity,” she said. “Wow, I actually did this and I can look back and see that I was able to endure everything thrown my way. It was very fast paced but it was very rewarding. Now, being able to do what I wanted to do for a very long time, it is very rewarding. And this is a great foundation for what I want to do in the future because I do want to go to law school in a couple of years after I gain more experience.”