Alumni Spotlight - Melanie (Neumann) Gilbert, Class of 1992
A Six-Year Old's Dream Becomes Reality

When she was just six years old, her kindergarten teacher asked Melanie and the other students to dress-up as what the students wanted to be when they grew up. Amidst the ballerinas and firefighters, there stood Melanie Neumann in her dad's suit-coat carrying a briefcase. "I want to be a lawyer," said the determined Melanie.

Always keeping that dream in mind, Melanie began her journey as a full-time post-secondary education option student at Austin Community College, now Riverland Community College, beginning her junior year of high school.

"I received an excellent education at [Riverland]. The curriculum was very rigorous."

One of her more rigorous courses was her political science class taught by Mr. Jerry Carlson.

"I wish I could thank him," said Melanie. "He was a tough teacher with tough expectations. He expected a lot, but he taught me a lot, too. He primed me for law school."

In addition to the excellent instructors at Riverland, Melanie fondly remembers her experiences in choir, Briars and Theatre.

"This particular community college offers such diverse educational opportunities. Being part of theatre productions helped prepare me to feel comfortable presenting in front of large groups in law school and ultimately in a courtroom."

"At Riverland, I quickly developed an insight into the need to focus and I developed time-management skills, as I was balancing school, performances and a job. It was the first true exposure I had to become an effective time-manager."

Melanie had an opportunity at Riverland to attend classes with her older sister who had come back to school to earn an Associate Degree in Nursing. They were able to graduate side-by-side. Both sisters were highly motivated to obtain a college education, yet had limited financial means.

"Neither Cindy nor I would have been able to accomplish our educational goals if it weren't for the affordability of tuition and scholarships we received" says Melanie. "Cindy was a single mom and needed a way to open up options for her future. Cindy was highly motivated and very interested in nursing. Her only obstacle to obtaining her degree was money. Limited financial means should never limit anyone from obtaining an education they are motivated to obtain. Personally, I would never have been able to get my four-year degree and go to law school without receiving those first two years of school at Riverland through the post-secondary education option."

The dream of a six-year old became a reality when Melanie graduated magna cum laude from William Mitchell College of Law in 1998. After an internship with the Minnesota Attorney Generals Office during law school, Melanie worked as one of two in-house attorneys for a commercial real-estate company, then for a major law firm in Minneapolis. She then worked as a corporate attorney at Hormel Foods Corporation in Austin. Currently, Melanie works as the Managing Attorney of Intellectual Property with the Schwan Food Company. Outside of work, Melanie enjoys running marathons and participating in other outdoor activities with her husband Seth.

"My advice to the student of today is to know yourself. If you know yourself and who you are and you know what you want, you will have much greater success in defining your goals, establishing a plan to obtain them, then executing that plan with no exceptions. Have a plan and have focus. You can do anything you want and you can do it with grace and balance, if you know yourself."