Salutatorian Jake Bubman is following family footsteps into a legal career
Jake Bubman knew when he entered USC that he wanted to be a lawyer.
Actually, his exact words were that he’s known he’s wanted to be a lawyer since he “could speak.”
He comes by it honestly, though. Both his parents are lawyers, and his sister is currently in law school. So, as he prepares to enter law school after graduating from USC this month, he thinks back to the wisdom imparted to him from his family: Pursue what you’re passionate about.
Bubman took that to heart, in both academics and extracurriculars, graduating with degrees from the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences in international relations and the global economy and Spanish, several internships at top law firms, an international championship with his a cappella group and as a salutatorian for the Class of 2021.
“I was absolutely stunned when Provost [Charles] Zukoski shared the news with me,” Bubman said. “I spent the entire call with my jaw on the floor, completely speechless.”
In searching for student organizations to join, someone suggested Bubman attend an a cappella performance, something he admits he had no interest in at the time.
“I just on a whim went with a friend and was totally surprised … the caliber of musician and vocals was just unbelievable,” Bubman said.
Despite his initial resistance, seeing that first performance inspired him to audition for the SoCal VoCals, USC’s oldest a cappella group. He made the group and eventually served as both treasurer and president.
In addition to SoCal VoCals, Bubman also spent time in the Model United Nations of Southern California, where he served in several leadership roles. However, it was his work with the USC Gould Immigrants and Global Migration Initiative that really shaped his legal path.
Bubman helped build an immigration court watch program, which sent different volunteers into immigration courtrooms in L.A. to evaluate how much courts were complying with due process rights for immigrants and asylum seekers facing deportation.
“That was something really cool that I feel like I would not have been able to do had it not been for USC, and the professors and faculty that I met along the way,” Bubman said.
Bubman admits that the past year hasn’t exactly been easy, with classes moved online, extracurriculars canceled or conducted virtually, and isolation from friends. However, he acknowledges that he and the rest of his classmates will be better off in the long run because of their resilience.
“It’s been really great to lean on friends, sort of knowing that we have that shared experience because we can all relate to each other, so I think that it’s been a really unique opportunity to stay connected in a very different way.”
As he prepares to walk across that stage at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum as a salutatorian, Bubman can’t help but look back at some of his early struggles. He admits that he was bullied throughout elementary and middle school, but he always told himself that the one thing the “popular kids” never had over him was work ethic.
“For me personally, this was a very full-circle moment,” Bubman said. “Looking back on that time in my life now that I have received this incredible honor and am finally genuinely happy and confident in myself, I am so proud of everything I have achieved since then and feel like I can tell my younger self, ‘we did it.’”