Posted: 3/2/2026
Buell uses 3-3 program to move from ranch life to law school
By Ronica Stromberg
Brooklyn Buell grew up on a Sandhills ranch caring for the environment and wanting to continue protecting it in a career outside of ranching. Now a junior at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, she has identified environmental law as that career and the 3-3 Law Program as an affordable shortcut to it.
The College of Law 3-3 program allows students to earn their bachelor's degree and their juris doctor degree in six years rather than the traditional seven years. Buell is finishing required courses for her environmental and sustainability studies major in the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources this year. In August 2026, she will use remaining credits, like electives, to take her first year of law classes.
The 3-3 program and the law school offer generous scholarships to students meeting set criteria. Buell said she received a full tuition scholarship from the program based on her application, LSAT scores and academics. As a student in the College of Agriculture and School of Natural Resources, she was also able to apply for a full-ride scholarship and is waiting to hear on that.
The scholarships made the program especially attractive to her and her parents, she said. Her parents have supported her taking part in the 3-3 program and encouraged her that she can become a lawyer, she said. She credited her family with building her interest in the environment and land conservation.
"A big mantra for my family was always, 'If you take care of the land, it takes care of you,'" she said. "That was my first exposure to these kinds of ideas, and so, that sparked my interest."
On her family's 14,000-acre ranch near Bassett, Nebraska, she and her three siblings helped hay, work cattle and move them in the cow-calf operation.
In high school, she learned in a social studies class about the Willow oil-drilling project in Alaska, and that further informed her passion about the environment. The school was too small to offer a debate team or mock trials, but she spoke at Future Farmers of America speech competitions on topics like farm succession planning, cattle methane emission and what producers can do about it, plant-based milk, and the teaching shortage, especially in agriculture. Her talks were well received, she said, and she proceeded to state every year.
At the university, she learned in her environmental studies classes about environmental justice, which she described as the idea that not everybody experiences the benefits and burdens of environmental issues equally. She said she thinks she would find it fulfilling to work with environmental justice cases or policy in the future.
Her environmental studies classes have also included talk about a sense of place and connection to the land. She said growing up on a ranch informed her environmental identity, which likely would have been different had she grown up in cities.
"There can be a disconnect between people and nature when you live in an urban area," she said. "And so, when I lived on my ranch, obviously, you walk outside, and you are surrounded by nature and the environment. I think that breeds a connection from the person to the land—and that care for it—because you see it and interact with it every single day."
In Lincoln, the quick pace of her launch into law school and a career has been scary at times, she said.
“One thing with the 3-3 program is that you have to really be on top of making sure that you're hitting all of your requirements because you need to be able to get a certain amount of classes taken ahead of time," she said.
She expressed thanks to Sara Winn, a student success specialist in the School of Natural Resources, for helping her stay on track. If other students are considering the 3-3 program, she encouraged them to research it well and understand fully what it will mean for their academic career.
As she has successfully met its requirements so far, like doing well on the LSAT and getting accepted into the law school, she said she has become more confident in continuing to the next step in her 3-3 career path. She encouraged other students that it is worth it to see the program through.
"While it can seem scary, it is very doable, and it's very rewarding in the end when you finally get that call from the law school about your acceptance and the scholarship information," she said. "It's definitely very worth it at that point."
