Former newspaper editor becomes real estate lawyer; Chasing after life’s opportunities

    Jamie Goodwin is a 1993 North Harford Graduate that went on to become a real estate lawyer. Before graduation, she was the editor in chief of the journalism staff. At the time, they had a different method of producing the newspaper. 

     Goodwin unraveled the many steps that it took to produce just one page. The editors would type up the articles before printing them out. Then they, “would cut out every article and place them on a light board.” After the articles, “were perfectly aligned, they were glued together.” 

     She remembers, “getting permission to leave class to finish the pages for,” their teacher Mr. Mason. Staff members would “stay after school,” and even, “miss a sports practice,” to finish their work. This is because the “deadline for printing had to be met.” 

     “Everyone in journalism wanted to be an editor,” Goodwin recalls. To get this position, “your name was thrown into the ring and the students voted on who they wanted to be elected.” 

     After securing her position, the first year was described as, “a process of getting comfortable and learning from more experienced editors.” Things improved in the second year as Goodwin became, “more confident and relaxed.” 

     The articles that were produced by the staff at the time were so nicely made they “got some awards for the newspaper layout.” After graduating, Goodwin moved on to attend college at Johns Hopkins. 

     She explained the reason she applied for the college was that “it was a very highly regarded local college that […] she would be close enough to home, but far enough to stay on campus.” As an undergraduate, she studied, “English and art history.” A lesson she learned from Johns Hopkins is, “if you work hard and stay focused, you can accomplish anything in life.” 

      Moving on to bigger things, Goodwin transferred to a college in Manhattan, New York called Fordham University, School of Law. She chose this school so far away from home because she, “wanted to go to New York to experience its city life and it seemed like an opportunity […] [she] couldn’t pass up.” 

     She also knew that if she wanted to go for big things and experiment in life, “college is a perfect time.” From Fordham, she learned that “becoming a lawyer you can have a great lifestyle. You can control your life in a way that you couldn’t with other occupations.” 

     From going through, “college, law school, passing the bar exam, and working for a law firm for 9 years,” Goodwin was able to, “eventually become a real estate lawyer for a really big health care system to help with major hospital transactions that are for developing new hospitals.” 

      Her job brought her to the “amazing, beautiful city of Seattle.” She described it as mountainous and green, a bustling, “cosmopolitan that is very urban, with great restaurants, and music. 

     From her journey and the life she has built with a “wonderful husband, three kids, and a big dog,” in the big city of Seattle, Goodwin learned that, “life can take you anywhere.” She recommended, “staying confident and hanging in there.”