From Opera to Law: Meet Sara Womble

/ Sangeeta Kishore

There are numerous roads to law school, and no one-size fits all path to a successful legal career. Follow along with our new series highlighting BC Law students and how they got here! 

Our first entry is a Q&A with Sara Womble, a 2L from Winston Salem, NC. After receiving a Bachelors in English and Music Performance from Duke and Master’s in Voice Performance from BU, Sara was an opera singer before coming to BC.

What did you do before coming to law school?

I spent the decade prior to coming to law school as an opera singer. It was the privilege of a lifetime to sing many roles dear to my heart, particularly in Mozart operas, and to make music and theater with the best colleagues, fellow artists, and lifelong friends imaginable. More recently, in addition to my performing career, I’ve served as an executive at Opera Neo in San Diego, a company whose mission I believe in passionately – namely, creating innovative interpretations of classic operas, keeping these gorgeous works vibrant and alive for today’s audiences. I will cherish all these experiences for the rest of my life, and I carry them with me every day.

Why did you decide to go to law school? And why BC Law?

I’ve always been interested in the law and in public policy. I believe that art and artists can make a tremendous impact on the world around them – I’ve seen it happen, and been fortunate to work alongside spectacular artists dedicated to doing just that. While the impact that artists can have is deep, lasting, and profound, the impact of lawyers and policy-makers has the potential to be more immediate and direct. I got increasingly hungry to use my brain in these new ways, and to tackle new challenges, and that hunger led me straight to law school. BC Law, with its emphasis on policy as well as a rigorous grounding in the law, was the perfect place!

How have your past experiences informed your law school experience and future career interests?

The first thing many people think about when they imagine what it’s like to work as an artist is creativity – and they’re not wrong: cultivating the creative spark is at the core of what it means to be an artist. But the day-to-day reality is much more about discipline, about the will to keep going – and to find joy in the work – when the obstacles seem insurmountable. I suspect that all of us who have experienced 1L can relate to this aspect of what it means to be an artist!

Sangeeta Kishore is a second-year student at BC Law and president of the Impact blog. Contact her at kishorsa@bc.edu.