Her Southern drawl still clear as a bell, it’s obvious that Laura Clower isn’t a Chambana native. But she has built her life here after getting her degree from the University of Illinois College of Law. She’s had a varied legal career, including clerking for a federal appellate judge, being a litigation partner in a local law firm, and at various times teaching as an adjunct professor. She’s been Associate University Counsel for the University of Illinois since 2005.
When she’s not working or trying to keep up with her three teenagers, Laura likes to read, cook and knit. She is an avid fan of her children’s soccer and baseball teams and can be found most weekends, spring through fall, on the sidelines somewhere in central Illinois. Laura lives in Champaign with her husband, a University of Illinois professor, their two youngest children, and the family’s dogs, Anubis and Calamity Jane, who rule the household.
See why we think Laura is a Chambana mom to know. Q: What have you learned about parenting from your mom?
One thing I learned from my mom, which she might not even realize, was that you CAN work full-time and raise a family that is healthy. She never had a career, really. Being a woman raised in the 40s and 50s, a career was not something she was taught to aspire to. But she grew up in a large working-class family and understood the need and value of hard work, so she always had some sort of job while we were growing up—retail sales, bookkeeping, clerical work, etc. Eventually, she started her own business as a rare and used book dealer and even owned a fairly well-known used bookstore in Richmond, Virginia, throughout the ‘90s (even the Governor of Virginia used to shop there). She’s retired now, and happily tending her garden and the grandchildren who live nearby. Without either of us realizing it, I guess she gave me the gift of never doubting I could have both a family and work I loved.
Q: What do you think of living with teenagers?
A: I love it. I’m sure everyone’s experience is different, and we’ve all heard that it can be tough to parent teenagers, but honestly, this has been the most enjoyable period of parenthood so far to me, even with all its challenges. Much of the busy physical work of parenting is past (after all, they mostly know how to brush their own teeth, dress themselves, tie their own shoes, etc.) and they have come into their own as unique individuals, so conversations are really interesting. And by this stage you can really see the differences in your children’s personalities, which fascinates me: how can you mix the same two gene pools together, raise the resulting outcome in the same household with the same parents, and yet get such differing outcomes?
Q: What do you like most about your job?
A: The most satisfying part is knowing that I’m making a contribution, however small, every day to the larger work of the University’s missions. Every day the University strives to add to the body of human knowledge through research, to educate the next generation for their own betterment and the betterment of all, and to serve the citizens of the State of Illinois and the larger world. What could possibly be cooler than helping with that? So, basically, I think of myself as a sidekick to the world’s nerdiest super hero.
Q: What is the biggest challenge you face as a working mom?
A: The biggest challenge is keeping the inner critic at bay. I worked hard to teach my brain that “perfect” is the enemy of excellence, both in my work life and my home life, and usually do a good job of keeping the inner voice from complaining about how I’m not doing it right. But when I’m tired or not feeling well, or some part of work or home is really “off” it can be tough to silence the inner critic. There is also the challenge of not bringing the lawyer in me home. Cross-examination skills can be useful to find out EXACTLY how the car’s bumper got scratched, but they tend to be counter-productive to congenial dinner time conversation. I’ve found that by treating the lawyer in me as a role I play, not who I am, it’s easier not to be THAT person at home.
Q: What is the best thing about raising a family in Champaign-Urbana?
This town has turned out to be exactly the right size for raising a family—it’s big enough to have lots of opportunities for sports, arts, and other activities, all across the child-rearing age range, yet it’s small enough that you can know your neighbors, the parents of your child’s school friends, their soccer coaches, etc. And you cannot beat the commute time if you are a working parent. I’m absolutely certain that it would have been impossible to create the really rewarding career I’ve had as an attorney if I’d tried to pull off this work-family balancing act somewhere larger than Chambana.