56-year-old realizes law school dream while battling breast cancer

Martha Svoboda, 56, can very often be found with her nose in a book, whether she’s studying at the law library or while waiting for radiation treatments for her breast cancer.

Svoboda is a third-year student at UNC’s School of Law, and was diagnosed with invasive breast cancer last fall.

Today is her last round of treatment.

Svoboda said she has wanted to be a lawyer since first watching Perry Mason on TV as a child.

“I just know there is more I have to do with my life,” she said. “I have been a financial executive, I have two beautiful kids, but there is still more I have left to give.”

Growing up, law school was just a dream, but in 2010, during her son’s senior year at UNC, that dream became reality when Svoboda was accepted into UNC’s School of Law.

“At first, I didn’t think she was going to follow through,” her son Zack Svoboda said.

“But then she started studying for the LSAT, and then she took the LSAT, and then she received her acceptance letter.”

Zack said it didn’t seem real until his mom attended a mixer for new law students at La Residence on Rosemary Street.

“Even if she just ordered a Coke, it was just weird to me that my mom was at La Res,” he said.

Zack said at first he wasn’t thrilled his mom would be attending UNC with him, but the two bonded while going to school together. He would often pop by the law library to study with her or go to lunch with her on Franklin Street.

Classmate Jennifer Vuona remembers when Svoboda first told her about the diagnosis, just before their banking law class started one day.

“She never even blinked,” Vuona said. “It was never in question that she was going to finish law school this year.”

Professor Melissa Jacoby, who taught Svoboda last semester, said she was always a diligent student who asked good questions in class, which the cancer diagnosis didn’t change.

“Martha is not the type to give up,” she said.

Svoboda said her cancer diagnosis helped her appreciate her opportunities and to let go of her fears of failing as a law student.

“When I got diagnosed with breast cancer, it forced me to smell the roses,” she said.

“Law school is a gift that God has given. Carolina Law gave me a spot instead of giving it to another 22-year-old. I am trying to embrace that, to learn for the sake of learning.”

Michael States, assistant dean of admissions at the law school, said Svoboda is handling her challenges well.

“She’s managing her health situation, law school and her family,” he said.

“She has the ability to be successful (as a lawyer), I have no doubt.”

Svoboda said she wants to focus on consumer financial protection, and is excited to finally turn her love of truth and justice into a career.

“My medical oncologist told me, ‘You know, a lot of people take off from work to recover from this disease, especially people our age. We should be thinking about retirement, and here you are trying to start this whole new adventure.’”

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