I
f you’ve heard it once,
you’ve heard it a million
times: To succeed, you
must have an outline
for your career!
“I’ve never really
lived my life that way—
with a plan,” says Joan
Adanna Akalaonu, who’s working
toward a May 2015 graduation date.
“God always opens the right door at
the right time.”
Doors have swung open at
Yale University, where Akalaonu
graduated cum laude with a
bachelor’s degree in psychology;
at the University of Illinois at
Chicago, where she earned a master’s
degree in social work; and now at
Loyola, where the Civitas ChildLaw
Fellow is among the top in her class.
She served as a junior editor on the
Loyola University Chicago Law Journal
and is now a senior editor of the
Children’s Legal Rights Journal.
What’s next? As lawyers love to
say, that depends…in Akalaonu’s
case, on the next doors she finds ajar.
A gradual
embrace of faith
Often asked if she’s Hawaiian,
Akalaonu is instead of Nigerian
descent. “My father, who’s now
deceased, came to the United
States to complete his studies in
biochemistry,” she says. “My mom
came when they got married and
worked as a nurse. I’m the middle
child with two brothers, and we were
all born here in Chicago.”
Akalaonu was raised Catholic,
and after undergrad she started
slowly learning more about her
faith. However, she says, she truly
connected with it when she was in
London working as a child protection
social worker starting in 2009.
England was a move that
surprised even Akalaonu. She’d
just finished her master’s studies,
but the US economy wasn’t adding
many jobs for social workers at the
time. She heard about the opening,
applied, interviewed, and was in
London even before she’d nailed
down where she’d live.
“I thought, ‘I’m not married, and
I don’t have children, so this is an
opportune time to work and live
abroad and travel,’” she says. “I feel
like that was a great leap of faith.
I remember the day I flew over, I
thought, ‘Man; I really just packed
my bags and left!’
“I had to look within myself and
draw closer to my faith. I became
involved in a young adult Catholic
group called Soul Food. It was
the first time I was surrounded
by others passionate about their
faith. I underwent a tremendous
transformation from when I got
there to when I came home.”
Akalaonu had law school in the
back of her mind, but it took what
she considers divine intervention
and timing to get there. Her mother
called when Akalaonu was in London
and reminded her that a family
friend—who was also an adjunct
professor at Loyola—had been asking
if law school was her next stop. Having
grown more interested in child law,
Akalaonu decided that if she got a
certain score or higher on the LSAT, it
would be a sign God wanted her to go
to law school. “I got that exact score,”
she remembers.
Feeling at home
at Loyola
Loyola was a natural fit. “When
I was deciding about law school, I
wanted it not just to be a professional
decision but also one about serving
through law school,” says Akalaonu.
“I remember reading the pamphlet
for the law school; it talked about
Loyola promoting the idea that the law
can be a living force that is used to do
good. I also wanted a law school that
offered a specialty in child law. And
of course, it was in Chicago, where I
wanted to return.”
Though she’s not committed
to a specific career yet, Akalaonu is
dedicated to working with society’s
youngest members. “I’m not sure
where I’ll be in five years,” she says. “But
I know I’ll be doing work that involves
helping kids and families or advocating
on their behalf.”
Despite her confidence in
taking the opportunities that
present themselves to her,
Akalaonu’s sometimes more shy
than she may appear. “My younger
brother says I come across as strong,
opinionated, and resolute in the
things I say. But there’s also a
vulnerability that only those who
are close to me are aware of,” she says.
She’s also not all work and no
play. Akalaonu says she was
“uber excited” to be an usher for a
performance of
Henry V
at Navy Pier
through the Saints, a volunteer arts
organization. She loves singing, at one
time with a gospel choir and lately at a
local karaoke night. She also revels in
spending time with her family. “We’re
really big on laughter,” she says.
■
• BA in Psychology,
cum
laude
, Yale University
• MSW, University of
Illinois at Chicago
•
Loyola University
Chicago Law Journal,
junior editor 2013-14
•
Children’s Legal
Rights Journal,
senior
editor 2014-15
• Civitas ChildLaw Fellow
• Nina S. Appel
Scholarship 2014-15
• Women’s Bar Foundation
Scholarship 2014
• Cali awards: Advocacy,
Juvenile Justice, and
Child Law Trial Practice
• 2014 summer associate:
Skadden, Arps, Slate,
Meagher & Flom LLP
• Legal externships: Circuit
Court of Cook County
and Office of the
Guardian of Illinois, DCFS
• Child protection social
worker: London
Borough of Barking and
Dagenham, 2009-12
• 2008 Home, Health,
and Heart Service Tour:
Dominican Republic
• 2007 Summer Abroad:
Understanding Social
Issues in Kenya
Astudent
with a plan:
tonot be
held
toone
STUDENT PROFILE
Playing it by ear works for multitalented 3L
Joan Adanna
Akalaonu says “God
always opens the
right door at the
right time” for her.
Fast facts:
Joan Adanna
Akalaonu
FALL 2014
17
16
LOYOLA LAW
