Alexandra Kantor

Global Ambitions

Alexandra Kantor
Florida Community College, Class of 2006

You’d need a world atlas to keep up with Alexandra Kantor’s childhood. Born in Munich to a German father and a French mother, her father’s work with the United Nations took their family to Togo in Western Africa, Bornea Island, Jakarta, France and Singapore, where she graduated from the French Lyceum. “Alex,” as she is known to friends, returned home to Germany to attend college, but then met and married Jonathan, a U.S. Army soldier. The couple, along with their infant daughter, Rebecca, eventually moved to the United States, first to Virginia, and then to Jacksonville in 2003.

When told by a college official in Virginia that she wouldn’t be able to transfer with her German college work, Alex chose full-time motherhood. As her daughter grew up, Alex became restless; she was ready for the working world. Looking for a job in Jacksonville, it was clear her high school education wouldn’t be enough. “I began to realize that if I wanted a job with responsibilities, I had to prove that I could handle them. So in fall 2004, I enrolled in the legal assisting program at Florida Community College.”

“When I read about the legal assisting program, I found that it provided everything I needed: it’s not a very long program, it’s ABA-accredited (American Bar Association), it gives me the option to work in the legal field, and I can continue going to school while working. I am going to graduate in Spring 2006 and I have loved the courses even more than I thought I would.”

In addition to her courses, Alex recently finished an internship at Pajcic & Pajcic, where she had the opportunity to do many of the same tasks a legal assistant would do, giving her excellent experience and a head start on the career path.

But Alex isn’t done with travel quite yet. Set to move to Tampa in the spring, she plans to transfer to Florida Gulf Coast University and earn her bachelor’s degree in their online legal assisting program while she works.

She also has plans for law school and more – eventually. “I will however do all that slowly; there is no rush, but it is definitely what I want to do – along with becoming a US citizen.”

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