I am a Graduate! It wasn’t easy but I did it!

Yes, I finally graduated with cap, gown and master’s hood. I walked the walk with the class of 2016 at Pepperdine Law School, Straus Institute onto the stage overlooking the beautiful ocean view to receive my diploma certifying that I am a Master of Dispute Resolution. 

Some days in the last two years were difficult juggling classes, exams and magazine deadlines. I want to thank Prof. Tim Pownall who kept me going when I wanted to quit, and Joanna and Randy at the Straus office who answered all my questions and stayed with me when I was panicking.  I also want to thank my sons Kunal and Rahul for always supporting me. I can’t believe my mom who came here for my graduation, even when she was not well. It was nice to see her so happy to see me graduate. I feel blessed and so loved by all my friends and my FB friends for their wishes and support. 

I know I said a couple of months ago that I graduated when I finished all my class work and was done with exams and homework. For all practical purposes I feel I graduated then, but I still had to finish my internship, or as Pepperdine calls it, Externship. Externships are really good for real life experience and preparation I needed to work as a mediator and arbitrator.  Mediation Clinic was another very important program offered at Pepperdine where we use our skill in actual courts to resolve real life disputes though mediation. I am proud to say, I had a 90% success rate during my time in mediation at these courts cases. It is a great feeling when I am able to help two parties resolve a dispute and salvage relationships.

I was always a peacemaker, but now I am a trained peacemaker with the best skill set possible. Pepperdine’s M.D.R. program has been ranked No.1 in the nation for the last 13 years. I am looking forward to using all I have learned at Pepperdine to make this world, or at least our community, a much more peaceful and tolerant place to live and grow. 

I am currently working at Our Lady of Malibu School.  I am excited about my work there because I feel great that I am able to teach the students from a young age how to use words instead of anger and violence to resolve conflicts. The children are learning to listen and put themselves in other’s shoes so that they realize hurting others also makes the hurt and pain grow in themselves. As one of the students after our mediation sessions said, “As I am learning to have better relationships, I am realizing that it is also helping me in my academics.”  I feel so blessed to be part of this transformation. 

As happy as I am to be done with two years of hard work at Pepperdine while continuing to work on the Malibu Chronicle magazine, I’m happy to have become more peaceful and happy myself. I use the mediation skills in my own life as much as possible.  Even though conflicts are a natural part of life, I hope I will be able to resolve most disputes easily and peacefully while maintaining the respect for myself and for my opponents. I feel more confident in navigating my way through life because I have learned better skills for negotiation and mediation. 

I am not a fighter; I am a mediator and peacemaker!

Veera

Veera Mahajan, M.D.R.