When Francis Lubega signed up for the mock trial team his freshman year at Cathedral High School, he might not have realized then he was laying the foundation for his future career plans. The newest graduate from The College of the Holy Cross in Worcester can trace the beginnings of his interest in law to the opportunities he received while at Cathedral.
After several years participating in the mock trial and moot court teams, Francis was accepted to a paid summer internship at one of Cathedral’s long-time partners: WilmerHale, a leading, full-service international law firm. “It exposed me to a variety of careers and practices in law that I didn’t know about,” says Francis adding that he didn’t even know what a paralegal was before that. “The Cathedral internship at WilmerHale intensified my commitment to go into law.”
The summer internships at Cathedral High are designed to do exactly that—provide opportunities for juniors and seniors to explore potential careers, learn hands-on, and network in a variety of industries around Boston. For Francis, it also opened doors for the future. Last summer, through the relationships he built during his internship at CHS he returned to WilmerHale again as a paralegal intern.
Francis celebrating varsity soccer “senior night” with his father and coach.
At The College of the Holy Cross, Francis followed a pre-law track and just celebrated his virtual graduation having double-majored in political science and sociology with honors. “Cathedral was a tremendous boost for me going into Holy Cross with the academic rigor,” Francis was quick to point out, citing a list of specific teachers and classes at Cathedral that helped him the most. Mr. Howland helped him learn to balance a demanding schedule. His confidence grew through mock trial and the support of Mr. Ladner. Ms. Lane helped him get accepted into Holy Cross and two other schools to choose from (George Washington University and Boston College). Ms. Pillai and Ms. Milkalitas wrote him beautiful recommendations to get into school. And Mr. McGurrin helped him grow to become a better adult. “The interactions with teachers and professors helped me going into Holy Cross, because Holy Cross is a small school too… I was able to have a smooth transition without a lot of difficulty and was able to do well academically,” he said.
While at Holy Cross Francis took advantage of opportunities there including, studying abroad at the University of Melbourne, continuing his Cathedral varsity soccer his experience by playing club soccer and later intramural soccer at Holy Cross, and also becoming a referee. Next up, Francis is pursuing careers in the legal field as a paralegal while he prepares for the LSATs and ultimately law school.
Offering advice to the students currently enrolled at Cathedral, Francis tells them to “take the resources that Cathedral offers. Just don’t take anything for granted there; it all definitely helps you a lot in the long run.”
