Hometown: Southcentral, Alaska
Program: JD
Graduation Date: May 2006
Current Position: Author
Bristol grew up in rural Southcentral Alaska, near Flat Horn Lake, where they had no running water, electricity, or internet, but she had a lot of books! Bristol went to college at University of Alaska – Anchorage – where she majored in business/marketing and creative writing. This allowed her to get a job in writing marketing for specialty firms, like architectural or engineering firms. When she was offered to be made partner, she thought to herself, “Do I want to do this for the rest of my life?”
Bristol had always been interested in constitutional law so she made a career pivot and decided to go to law school! After law school, Bristol was offered a job at a large law firm working on contracts / land use / real estates. While she enjoyed her mentors, she did not enjoy the practice of law and Bristol went back to her first love: writing. Bristol worked for another specialty firm in Eugene before moving back to Portland in 2013 when she decided to open a Belgium beer bar! Bristol sold her business in 2020 and with the COVID lock-down, she decided to focus on her writing serious and that resulted in Afterward - her debut novel published in 2025 about a young woman navigating a traumatic event and its effect on her relationships and her own life.
These days when Bristol is not too busy planning her law class of 2006 reunions or traveling, she is working on her second novel about living off the grid in Alaska.
What advice would you give to a graduating student who's looking for a job?
“Follow your heart – whether that’s in law or out of law – that allows you to make a huge impact on people’s lives. There are so many things you can do with a law degree.”