The journey to New Hampshire from securing her F-1 visa to study in the United States was long and arduous, and Hadil Battrawi doubted at times that it would come through in time for her to begin her LLM at UNH Franklin Pierce in the fall of 2022.
But Battrawi did not give up hope, traveling from her home in Ramallah, Palestine (by way of Jordan), on August 10, the day she received her passport and four days after she received word that her visa had been issued. She had a day to pack as much as she could fit into her suitcases before traveling to the U.S. on August 11, 2022, arriving in Concord just in time for the start of the fall semester at the law school.
“[Pursuing my LLM in America] was the thing I needed to evolve and develop,” Battrawi says. “Yes, law school is stressful, and the fact that I just moved without preparation, the emotional stress was huge; the differences, the cultural shock. But Concord is perfect for me because I am not a big-city girl. I love New Hampshire. This is where I was supposed to be from the very beginning.”
Prior to her arrival at UNH Franklin Pierce, Battrawi earned her LLB from Birzeit University in Ramallah in 2018. She studied at the University of Oslo in the summers of 2017 and 2020 and worked in international and immigration law in The Hague, the Netherlands, and Palestine, before attending the LSAC Law School Forum in Chicago in the fall of 2021. It was here that she made a connection with UNH Franklin Pierce’s Associate Dean for Administration and Enrollment Shane Cooper. From there, Director of Graduate and International Admissions Sarah Dorner checked in with Battrawi constantly to offer assistance after she was admitted to the school.
“They were calling the embassy all the time and keeping up with everything,” she says. “They were incredible.”
Still, Battrawi was days away from deferring her enrollment at UNH Franklin Pierce when her visa was finally approved. Over the last year, she has found a community at the law school among her peers and in the faculty and staff. She gained insight into the job search process by working part-time in the Career Services Office (CSO), worked as an international student liaison in student life to help plan social events, and participated as a student attorney in the Intellectual Property and Transaction Clinic.
Battrawi helped to orchestrate holiday celebrations, sporting events, hiking expeditions, and twice-monthly International Student Seminars, among other events, that allowed international students to share their culture, experiences, and food with their international and domestic peers.
“What helped me is that I thought some people don’t know who I am because of all the propaganda and the stereotypes [of being an Arab and Palestinian woman],” Battrawi says. “But meeting new people at events that I didn’t expect and getting to know them made me realize I’m not completely isolated. There are a lot of people out there who might at least share one thing I’m interested in, and that’s how I developed friendships. We discovered New England together, and it was really nice.”
Battrawi began looking for jobs in the months prior to her graduation this past May. Specifically, jobs that would allow her to stay in the United States to gain practical experience in intellectual property law. She is among the many international students at UNH Franklin Pierce and other American law schools who seek short-term employment in the U.S. after completing their degree programs. This can be done through Optional Practical Training (OPT), which allows foreign students in the U.S. on an F-1 visa the opportunity to obtain hands-on work experience in areas related to their academic major for up to 12 months after completing their degree program. With help from the CSO at UNH Franklin Pierce, Battrawi has been able to secure a job at a Concord, New Hampshire-based law firm.
In the long term, Battrawi would like to remain in the United States as she pursues a legal career in the financial technology sector. She will sit for the New York bar exam in February, and credits UNH Franklin Pierce Professor Kevin Frost, director of the Academic Success Program, with offering countless resources over the past year to help her through the cultural, language, and strategic planning barriers she faced as an international student.
“My main goal was to be here and pursue a career in IP,” Battrawi says, noting that she is thrilled to be remaining in Concord for the near future. “UNH Franklin Pierce provided that, and it has been amazing for me.”
