Aspiring lawyer nears goal

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Cheryl Arcand-Kootenay realized a major goal in her life when she graduated this spring with a law degree.

Arcand-Kootenay, 27, is working for the law firm Twinn and Dombro of Slave Lake. She's doing what is known in the legal profession as the articling year - a year spent in the field and practice of law before a student is accepted by the bar and becomes a full-fledged lawyer.

Cheryl and her husband Warren Kootenay live on the Alexander Reserve near Morinville, northwest of Edmonton. Their son Brett attends a French Immersion program in nearby Morinville, where the fifth-grader is an honors student.

She commutes from the reserve to Slave Lake and on week-ends she returns

home to the reserve. Her work also brings her into Edmonton.

She explained that the law firm does not specialize in any certain area of law, instead working in such areas as divorce, incorporation of companies and nuances.

Arcand-Kootenay attended the University of Alberta where she obtained her first under-graduate degree, a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in political science and minoring in sociology. She immediately started her studies in law and in the spring of 1992, completed the actual course work. After her articling year is complete she can apply to the bar for her license to practice law.

She recently attended the tenth annual general assembly of the Assembly of First Nations in Fredericton, New Brunswick, as an observer.

She has an athletic past, including pitching for the reserve team and jogging in her spare time.

She has plans to further her studies in perhaps a Master of Public Administration, but she's not sure exactly when.