A career services advisor can be an amazing resource in law school as you navigate OCI, externships, clerkship applications, and more. However, it’s important that you find the advisor who can best help you reach your personal goals! To do so, follow along with this new series to learn about each CSO advisor at Boston College Law School. Here is our interview with Chris Teague.

What was the biggest challenge you faced in law school, and how did you overcome it?

My biggest challenge in law school came during the spring semester of my 1L year. I started the semester very excited to take a class that was closely related to the type of law I wanted to practice, but much to my surprise, I ended up hating the class. This really threw me for a loop because I was one of those students who came to law school knowing EXACTLY what they wanted to do with their degree. When I realized I didn’t enjoy the class, I started to feel kind of lost. I had been so hyper-focused on one practice area that it was hard for me to start thinking about what my other options might be.

Fortunately, I had an amazing career services advisor who helped me stay calm and focused. Her advice was to keep an open mind and cast a wide net, and she helped me develop concrete strategies for exploring other practice areas and settings. She connected me with alumni, and after many conversations, I started to identify potential practice areas based on my strengths, values, and interests. I knew that I enjoyed public speaking and advocacy, and suddenly thought that criminal law might be a good fit. On my advisor’s recommendation, I accepted an internship with a prosecutor’s office in their domestic violence unit, and I loved every minute of it. It absolutely confirmed my interest in criminal law, and after graduation, I went on to work for several years in criminal law, as both a prosecutor and a defense attorney.

What was your path to the CSO, and why did you choose to go into career advising?

After I had been practicing criminal law for a few years, the head of career services at my law school reached out to ask if I would be willing to coach 3Ls interviewing for post-grad jobs with prosecutor and public defender offices. I agreed to do it, and found that I loved it! Not only did I enjoy working with students, but I also found it both challenging and fulfilling to use my legal background in a different way.

After a few months, I started to wonder if I should consider a career change. As an exercise, I thought about all of my past jobs and wrote down everything that I loved about each of them. I was surprised to realize that my list resembled what I imagined a job description for a career advisor would look like. It was then that I decided to explore career services further. I asked to expand the work I was doing at the law school and ended up getting hired as a part-time career advisor. After about a year, I accepted a full-time position at another law school. I came to Boston College Law School two years after that, and I have worked here for almost twelve years. I still enjoy meeting with and advising students as much as I did when I started fifteen years ago.

What do you like to do for fun?

Musical theater has been my biggest hobby since I was a child. For many years, I worked as both an actor and a stage manager with several theaters. From 2004 to 2011, my husband and I ran a theater company in Cambridge, and I was lucky enough to produce several award-winning shows during that time. These days, I prefer to sit in the audience, but we try to see as many shows as we can. In the last couple of months, I’ve seen “A Christmas Carol” at Trinity Rep; “Funny Girl” and “Mrs. Doubtfire” at Providence Performing Arts Center; and “Kimberly Akimbo” in New York City (which was my favorite show this year by far!).

Where in Boston should students visit before they graduate?

I lived in Boston for close to fifteen years, and my favorite place to visit has always been the Public Garden. I think it’s the most beautiful part of Boston. For a fun night this winter, I recommend ice skating on the Frog Pond followed by dinner on nearby Charles Street in Beacon Hill.

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Tess Halpern is a third-year student and president of the Impact blog. Contact her at halperte@bc.edu.