UNIVERSITY OF IOWA COLLEGE OF LAW — The best words to describe Iowa Law are “friendly” and “familial,” according to second-year student, Kabi Palaniappan. These characteristics were especially important to Palaniappan. Three weeks before he started his first semester of law school, his mother passed away from stage 4 cancer. Earlier, before he was about to graduate from the Ohio State University, he had decided to go to law school and began studying for the LSAT. In consideration of his mother’s illness, he decided to pause his legal education endeavors and spend time at home with his mother and family.This meaningful time that he spent with his family reinforced his desire to go to law school and become a successful lawyer. His mother was so proud of him for getting to that step, and although it was an extremely difficult time, it made him even more motivated to pursue this opportunity.