The 2026 incoming class at the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law includes 257 students: 184 full-time JD students and 73 Hybrid Evening JD Program students. The hybrid program increased by 50% from last year's incoming class.  

Over half of the incoming class (53%) is ethnically or racially diverse. 53% are women, 35% are first-generation students, and 22% are part of the LGBTQIA+ community. Visit the website to see the full entering class profile.  

In this article, six first-year law students at McGeorge School of Law, three in the JD Day program and three in the Hybrid Evening JD Program, share their experience of becoming law students.

Meet Damon Kalokerinos '29 - JD Day Program  

Damon Kalokerinos '29 is a Sacramento native and first-generation Greek American. After high school, Kalokerinos attended Sacramento City Community College, obtaining three Associate of Arts degrees in social behavioral science, arts and humanities, and philosophy.   

Transferring to University of California San Diego, Kalokerinos pursued a bachelor's degree in philosophy emphasized in law, ethics and society.   

When it came time to apply for law school, Kalokerinos knew he wanted to attend McGeorge after Mark Reichels '91, an McGeorge alumnus and father of one of Kalokerinos' teammates on his high school football team, became someone he looked up to.   

Kalokerinos remembers that Reichels would bring sandwiches and Gatorade to practice, where some team members were a part of low-income families. For students who didn't have a place to sleep, Reichel's would open his home to them.   

"He told me on many occasions McGeorge is the type of place where you get to become a person who acts altruistically to the community," Kalokerinos said. "That really stuck with me even when I was 15. So, when it came time to apply, I was like 'Of course I'm applying to McGeorge.'"  

Kalokerinos attended every admitted students' event and described McGeorge as having the best atmosphere and recalled that everyone he met was very nice, welcoming, and friendly.   

"I'm so happy I made the decision to come to McGeorge," Kalokerinos said. "Even after a week and a day of classes, I feel like this is a place where I'm being challenged, where I'm being encouraged and where I'm being surrounded by like-minded individuals who also care about the law, learning and being a better person."   

At this time, Kalokerinos is looking to practice civil defense law but has discussed practicing criminal defense law. 

Meet Kendall Lilley '29 - JD Day Program 

Kendall Lilley '29 grew up in Roseville before moving to Spokane, Washington to attend Gonzaga University, where she majored in psychology and minored in dance and Italian studies. Lilley studied abroad in Florence, Italy during her undergraduate studies.   

Before law school, Lilley balanced two jobs as a victim advocate for the Placer County District Attorney's Office while also performing as a Sacramento Kings Dancer. As a Kings Dancer, Lilley performed at every one of the 42 home games, getting to the courts for practice and warm-ups before the players.  

From the moment Lilley walked into court as a victim advocate, she knew she wanted to be an attorney. One of the first cases she was shadowing her supervisor assigned to was a vehicular manslaughter case.   

"I was watching her [supervisor] interact with the family and noticing the advocacy portion isn't that we're representing the victims, but we're educating them and making sure that their rights are being upheld through the knowledge of the system," Lilley said. "Through watching this process, I wanted to be the attorney making decisions."  

When Lilley began applying for law school, many people told her it would be months before hearing back from law schools. But, McGeorge got back to her right away. Lilley remembers instantly knowing that McGeorge prioritizes their students.   

After working with McGeorge alumni through her victim advocate position, Lilley only heard great things about the law school.  

"Even though I have a very distinct path I want to take. I want to make sure that there are no other aspects of the criminal system that I haven't explored yet," Lilley said. "There are so many jobs that I feel like alumni or professors will expose me to."   

After graduating, Lilley wants to specialize in criminal defense law as an attorney.

Meet Kaylyn “Kayo” Stewart '29 - JD Day Program 

Kaylyn “Kayo” Stewart '29, originally from Houston, Texas, attended college at Bryn Mawr College, a historically women's liberal arts college located in rural Pennsylvania. There, she majored in sociology with double minors in education and African studies.   

Stewart participated in the Legal Education Access Pipeline (LEAP), a program that helps build access to law school education for groups that are underrepresented in the field. She described LEAP as a very structured conversation panel where practicing attorneys of different areas of law took students through what their day-to-day life looked like.   

"I was really drawn to this one woman who worked for Children's East Bay Law Center. She shared that she works in a multidisciplinary way where she works with social workers, schools, parents, and teachers," Stewart said. "And, I really enjoy working with people from all different backgrounds. So, I felt that I could see myself in that role."  

For the past two years, Stewart worked as a family support counselor in Placer County for the Office of Education and served over 150 families. She helped families connect with essential resources such as housing assistance, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and Electronic Benefits Transfer benefits and attend Individualized Education Program meetings.   

After gaining real-world experience and working alongside social workers, Stewart wanted to build on her experience at McGeorge.   

"I wanted to go to a law school that was indicative of what the real world would look like, and McGeorge had that environment I wanted to be in. And, I knew it would help me grow," Stewart said. "On top of that, community was stressed a lot, even during orientation. I felt like it was so true, and it was so affirmed that we are a community. It just made me even more confident and content in my choice to choose McGeorge."  

Stewart has a passion to pursue education law and to work in the broad field of public interest.  

Meet Gabbi Forrest '30 - Hybrid Evening JD Program 

Gabbi Forrest '30 grew up in Dixon, California, before moving to Reno, Nevada to attend the University of Nevada, Reno. Originally, Forrest was enrolled in a health science program in college, but after looking through a friend's criminal justice readings, she switched to a Bachelor of Criminal Justice.   

Forrest commutes from Reno to attend in-person evening classes at McGeorge on Monday and Tuesday evenings. She stays at her sister’s home in Sacramento between classes before driving back to Reno and starting her shift at the Washoe County Sheriff's Department on Wednesday morning. She attends her Wednesday and Thursday evening classes remotely. 

Forrest said that not only is McGeorge the closest law school, but she knew that the Hybrid Evening JD Program would allow her to continue working full-time. 

"When McGeorge announced that they were doing a part-time hybrid program, I was like 'This was going to work for me,'" Forrest said. "When I came down here and started talking to people and the admissions team, everyone was just so friendly and excited about the possibility of me coming here."  

The kindness continued once classes started. Forrest commented that when she told her evening classes she was commuting from Reno, people jumped at the opportunity to help, saying, "If you need to stay at my house or you have to miss class or need notes, I'm ready to help."   

"The evening program is tight-knit because all of us have similar experiences. Some of us are older, some of us are working, some are just out of undergrad, so it's nice to have that diversity that kind of bonds us together," Forrest said.   

Forrest wants to go into criminal law in order to become a prosecutor and help be a voice for victims of crimes.   

Meet Jake Goodrick '30 - Hybrid Evening JD Program 

Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, Jake Goodrick '30 graduated from Arizona State University with a master's degree in sports journalism. From there, he moved around, becoming an editor for a newspaper in Wyoming, then he moved to Yuba City, where he covered the Yuba Sutter area for the Sacramento Bee.   

Currently, Goodrick is a local news editor with Abridged by PBS KVIE, a nonprofit news source in the Sacramento region.   

"It wasn't until my work in journalism that I really got to meet a lot of lawyers and attorneys; eventually I realized my favorite sources were attorneys," Goodrick said. "I enjoyed interacting, questioning them, and it really humanized the profession."   

Having worked in journalism for over 10 years, Goodrick had learned bits and pieces of the law when it came to reporting on certain stories but got a formal and full legal education.  

"At 20, I would have thought that I was too old to start law school," Goodrick said. "But now I'm 33, and I realized that I still have a good career ahead of me, and I just got a renewed interest in being able to start a new career and have it be worthwhile."  

Learning about McGeorge's Hybrid Evening JD Program, Goodrick knew that it would be a perfect fit as he couldn't afford to not work throughout law school.   

After touring the McGeorge campus, meeting faculty members including Associate Dean of Admissions Dan Croxall '08, Goodrick knew that even without living on campus and being an evening student, he would be able to have a strong legal education while still creating connections in the greater Sacramento area.   

Goodrick is open to the area of law he wants to specialize in.  

Meet Jesiree Moral '30 - Hybrid Evening JD Program 

Jesiree Moral '29 grew up in the Bay Area. After graduating from high school in 2020, she decided to pursue her undergrad at the University of San Francisco for politics and legal studies. 

"Coming from a first-generation immigrant household, I didn't really have people to turn to that would be able to tell me what's going on politically," Moral said. "So, that is a driving factor of why I chose politics. Just so I can better understand the system for myself because knowledge is power."  

Moral worked at Angelo, Kilday & Kilduff Attorneys at Law as a legal secretary. There, she primarily assisted in specializing in employment, constitutional, and civil rights law. Moral said she's always wanted to go to law school, but her position opened her eyes to an area of law she hadn't thought about.   

When applying for law school, McGeorge's Hybrid Evening JD Program was already on Moral's radar. She'd met McGeorge alumni as early as high school; Moral said they always stood out to her as well-recognized and extremely smart people.   

"I've met so many people before going to law school, from McGeorge, and that helped solidify 'Okay, McGeorge is a great school. I would love to go there.'" Moral said. "Lawyers can be intimidating, but I feel like all the McGeorge people I've met are always willing to help. They're always so accommodating and confident in what they do. Those are traits that I want to take on for myself."  

Moral is pursuing her JD degree through McGeorge's Hybrid Evening JD Program, which hosts two evenings of in-person classes and two evenings of remote classes each week. Moral said she wants to go into entertainment law and incorporate aspects of employment defense into her position.