Alumni Spotlight: Snapper Tams '09

Upon graduating from SC, I attended Colorado College, but I spent my summers in Los Angeles working at the Sierra Canyon Day Camp. After my graduation from Colorado, I moved home and worked at Visions, an adolescent treatment center that treats youth who suffer from alcohol, drug addiction, and mental health issues. I am currently a student at the University of Richmond School of Law and hope to receive my degree in May 2018. Since my arrival in Richmond, I have interned for both the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice and Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia. In addition, I have worked with various organizations such as Mental Health America of Virginia, Legal Aid Justice Center, Voices for Virginia’s Children and the Criminal Law Executive Board that provides tutors for inmates who are working on the GED.

My college experience was incredible. I highly recommend Colorado College to anyone looking for a demanding small school experience. CC operates on a unique program called the Block Plan. On this plan, you take one class at a time for 3.5 weeks and cover an entire semester’s worth of material during that time. It’s intense, but it is great for people who are passionate about their subjects. It’s far enough from LA to get away, but close enough to get back easily. There is no doubt that Sierra Canyon prepared me well for Colorado College's accelerated academic plan.

My career goal is to become an instrumental part of the American prison system. My plan is to first advocate for judicial policy change in sentencing and corrections practices. I firmly believe our nation’s current policies of criminal punishment are seriously flawed. During my college days, the criminal rehabilitation centers I visited provided a model for our prison system, where inmates are taught life/work skills that made them marketable after release. Having solidified my long-term career goals, I sought advice from my Sierra Canyon teachers as how to best achieve them. I spoke with both Jamie Winetrobe and Noah Solomon who highly recommended law school as a good way of achieving my goals.

In short, I decided to attend law school for two reasons: (1) To help me better understand our criminal justice system, and (2) to allow me to develop skills I will need to accomplish my goal: the reform of our prison system. In 5 years, having earned a J.D. and an MBA, I hope to have established my credibility. Hopefully in 10 years I will be well on my way to designing and implementing model prison system that can be implemented universally.

 
As member of the founding class, we had the opportunity to influence Sierra's culture. Playing on athletic teams, performing in both arts and scholastic competitions, creating a yearbook, and a school paper...we played an integral part in establishing tradition. Sierra Canyon football and Coach Jon Ellinghouse have greatly impacted my life. Now, almost 10 years later, when I get lazy I can clearly hear things that House taught us. SC football taught a valuable life lesson: how to do things the right way. Over the past several years, I have returned to SC help coach the football team. Football stands out as the activity that remains most applicable in my daily life. It gave me a work ethic, a focus on detail, and the desire to produce work that I can take pride in. I cannot say enough about my Sierra Canyon football experience.

To me, Sierra Canyon represents excellence. There is no pre-defined path for a Trailblazer. A true Trailblazer identifies a need in society or in the world and goes out to address it. In my case, I am called to address and ameliorate our flawed prison system. At its core, being a Trailblazer means demanding nothing short of greatness from yourself. I was the 1^st to have the SC logo tattooed on my arm and it serves as a daily reminder of my commitment to excellence in all things: Excellentia Propter Se. SC taught me to believe in myself and my ability to attain excellence. Excellence, however, is not easily attained. It requires hard work. As House said, “Don’t be afraid of hard work.”  Some of my Middle School classmates left Sierra Canyon to play football elsewhere while we the original Trailblazers stayed and made Championship football a reality at Sierra Canyon in a matter of a few years. How great is that!

If you are interested in a career in law, don’t worry about your major. Law school allows a student to hold any undergraduate degree. Having classmates with different undergraduate concentrations makes for stimulating discussions in seminar courses. Do not feel compelled to follow some pre-defined pre-law track. Criminal and social justice reform is such a broad issue. If it interests you, read anything and everything concerning this topic, reach out to those working in the field, volunteer, engage in discussions, and contact elected officials and advocate for policy change. If you are you are really interested in law and criminal justice, reach out to me. I would be happy to help a fellow Trailblazer.