Get to Know Your Officers: Jaymes Fairfax-Columbo

We value a sense of humor here on the Student Committee, and you Law Liaison Jaymes Fairfax-Columbo has that in spades (see photo below). However, he takes his job on the Student Committee very seriously and looks out for all of you legal-minded students out there. Be sure to check out our pre-conference workshop on Thursday,  March 11th at 10AM to see him in action.

Have you ever had a job you really loved? I loved my job as a research assistant at the
Treatment Research Institute—it helped solidify my decision to pursue the JD/PhD
degree (I got turned down the first time I applied, believe it or not). But the best job I
think I ever had was as a student librarian at Swarthmore. I was the face of the
library—I even got listed as one of the “hottest librarians” in one of the men’s
bathroom stalls in the basement (my friend took a picture and texted me
“congratulations.”) Plus, it paid dividends outside of the work-study money. In my
junior year, I was a participant in a glorified male beauty pageant, Mr. Swarthmore, as
the cross country representative. Now, I consider myself a talented person, but
unfortunately none of those talents really translate to a talent show. So, I decided to go
for some comedic relief and was an “extreme librarian” who could perform the most
basic of library tasks even under severe duress. It involved me getting pied in the face
at one point, so it was worth it. People were super into it and I got lots of
compliments—didn’t win the competition, though. Sometimes people let gold slip
through their fingers!

If you weren't in grad school, what would you be doing instead? Professional wrestler.
Next question.

Do you have any hidden talents? I’m really good at writing and performing comedic
raps, particularly of the birthday variety (but not freestyling). I broke it out a few times
in high school, college, and believe it or not, on graduate school interviews, but
haven’t really tapped into it since then.

What is your favorite city?
Philadelphia in the United States, hands down. If you move to the City of Brotherly
Love, you’ll understand. Worldwide, Edinburgh. Not because that’s where Harry
Potter was written (though that’s a plus), but because of the Royal Mile and Arthur’s
Seat.

What is the best thing about the AP-LS Conference?
Rubbing elbows with some of the best and brightest forensic minds in the country,
seeing lots of awesome talks, coming home with a ton of research ideas, and being able
to see friends you only get to see once a year.

What will you miss about being in grad school?
Not having to pay bills. Oh wait, that was college. In reality, being surrounded by lots
of great like-minded peers and not being expected to be an expert on things just yet—if
I say something less-than-enlightening, I can always fall back on the “I’m just a
student” excuse.

What is one professional goal that you have?
When I was in middle school, I wanted to be a historian, mainly because I thought the
job of a historian was to narrate History Channel specials. Turns out that’s not what
they do—Morgan Freeman does that. But, alas, Morgan Freeman is approaching
retirement, and somebody needs to take up the reigns. So I’m gonna go with narrating
a History Channel special on the history of forensic psychology in the United States.
And being quoted in Men’s Health. And maybe to make a solid contribution to translating research into policy and dissemination of research knowledge to the public-at-large. Not necessarily in that order, but maybe.