Ann McCollum '86 was a member of the field hockey and women's lacrosse teams and majored in religion. Since graduation, Ann spent 18 years working at a boarding school before going back to school to become a criminal defense attorney. 
 
You left teaching, went to law school and started practicing criminal defense. How did you become interested in this work and navigate switching careers? What do you do as a criminal defense lawyer?
Between teaching and law school I was a risk management consultant for school experiential programs, so the leap to law school was with the intention of applying my risk management principles to tort law in that context. I never thought I'd be a litigator, and I swore I would never work in criminal defense. Serendipitously, there were seven of my former students in my law school class at the University of New Mexico School of Law. They, as well as my other young classmates, not only helped me navigate the logistics of law school, but were incredibly instrumental in pushing me to think past what I thought I knew.  After law school, I still headed towards education and recreation law, but when I got there, I was bored. I realized I wanted to litigate.  After quitting a job in which I was unhappy, I took a huge breather and rode my bike across Tibet with a group I had trekked with previously. When I got back to New Mexico, I interviewed and was offered a research and writing position for a criminal defense attorney, and I never looked back.  I learned quickly that everyone has a story. As a criminal defense attorney, even if my clients have broken the law, my role is to advocate for their rights. I am a sole practitioner, and I represent indigent clients in federal court in post-conviction issues such as motions for compassionate release (typically older clients with underlying medical or mental health issues) and supervised release violations. I also still help other attorneys with their research and writing and litigation support. I love my job!
 
Tell us a bit about your hiking and biking hobbies.
I started backpacking and hiking as a kid on summer family vacations to Colorado, and I fell in love with exploring the backcountry. After Middlebury, I graduated from the NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School) Alaska Mountaineering and Instructors courses and then earned my Wilderness EMT and later my Wilderness First Responder certifications. One of my teaching jobs was as faculty in an experiential education program where we led students hiking, backpacking, kayaking, rafting and climbing in New Mexico, Utah and Colorado -- needless to say, it was a pretty awesome job! I also started cycling to work back then, which was the genesis of my cycling adventures. The missing piece at that point was exploring the Himalayas, so I figured out a way to take students on a community service and trekking trip to Sikkim in the Himalayas of far northeast India back in 2001.  I was not disappointed!! I have since trekked in many different regions of the Nepal and India Himalayas, and I even guided a couple of trips to Everest Base Camp for Kamzang Journeys. The rare trip of a lifetime was biking from Lhasa, Tibet to the Nepal border in 2018. The majority of the trip was on the Tibetan Plateau over 13,000 feet and climbing many high passes. One of the highlights was cycling to and spending a night at Rongbuk Monastery near Everest Base Camp on the Tibet side. The next morning we rode to within four kilometers of the basecamp (which was as far as the Chinese government would let us go). I've been very fortunate to have these travel experiences which have introduced me to remarkable cultures, regions and new friends.
 
What is one piece of advice you would pass on to current Middlebury student-athletes?
Speak up and lean in when others are telling you to back up and be quiet. The strength to be able to do this comes from knowing that life is difficult, not just for you, but for everyone, no matter how easy someone makes it look. Ask questions and ask for help -- if you are pushed away, move on to someone else. There is always someone who is willing to help and guide.
 
What was your MiddMoment? 
As a student from the far away land of Texas, my MiddMoment was experiencing the embracing reach and care of the entire Middlebury community. When I was at Middlebury, there were relatively few students from outside New England. I only travelled back home to Houston at Christmas. My first advisors were Linde Karin from admissions and Dave Rahr from the alumni office. Dave let me store my things at his house over breaks, and when my mom called Dave's wife to find out how to get flowers delivered to me on my birthday, she personally delivered them to my dorm room. Missy Foote included me in Easter lunch with her family, and Hugh and Barb Marlow hosted all 15 Midd Texans at their home for the Texas sesquicentennial (that's 150 years of statehood).  I went to high school in Houston and started as a Feb Freshman and a fish out of water in Vermont, but the community made Middlebury – to this day -- my home away from home.