When Shannon Sorrells won a high school forensics-speech competition by singing during the speech, her mother said she knew the girl was on her way.

But everyone thought it would be in the entertainment industry, said Maggie Sorrells.

"She was sick with a cold and still pulled it off,"Sorrells said, referring to Shannon's speech competition victory.

At 14, she was singing at the Cowboy Christmas in Medora. She was invited to sing two years in a row, Sorrells said. She could play the piano, and even sang for the prisoners at Bismarck's prison.

"A lot of people thought she was going to be an entertainer,"said Sorrells. "That's just not where she was. She wanted more than that."

And she did get more than that.

In fact, the young woman, now 22, from Alexander, population 250 (give or take a couple), recently found an old journal entry from when she was 12. She'd penned that she one day wanted to be a lawyer or a psychologist.

And now, Shannon Sorrells, a graduate with a degree in psychology from University of Mary, has been accepted to Harvard Law School, having scored in the top 1 percent in the nation on the Law School Admission Test.

No small feat.

"Certainly our school, as a whole, typically has students from all 50 states. But it is rare to get someone from North Dakota,"said Toby Stock, assistant dean for admissions for Harvard Law. "It's always exciting to get folks from small towns."

Maybe being a lawyer was always a goal for herself, internally, Sorrells said, referring to the journal entry. But going to Harvard had never really crossed her mind.

Sorrells moved to the University of Mary in 2002, and graduated last year with her degree in psychology. Until a couple of years ago, she figured she would go on to get her master's degree in the same field.

She was a fantastic student, said Bela Balogh, her college adviser. She had a 3.9 GPA. She was motivated, intelligent, witty, unassuming and not just book-smart, he said.

But probably the biggest motivating factor for law school:She got a job with now-mentor David Bliss's law office, and he challenged her almost daily.

"I was never just some young intern,"Sorrells said about Bliss. "He's treated me like an intellectual equal."

So much so that Sorrells was given increasingly challenging workloads, earning Bliss's trust and respect with every accomplishment, Bliss said.

Bliss said she worked hard as an intern, and giving her a job as a legal assistant was an easy decision.

Those challenging assignments from Bliss cemented her decision to go into law, Sorrells said.

In fact, her goal was to do well on the LSAT, to get a 170, and get accepted to the University of Minnesota Law School. Of course, she did both.

Sorrells began studying for the LSAT about four months before the test, she said, even carrying around a binder of notes to study when she had spare time. She studied about an hour a day, taking full-length practice tests every weekend.

She researched which books were considered the best to study, and bought about 35 real practice tests.

"When Iwas doing it, Ididn't think, 'This is crazy,'" she said, referring to her consistent study habits.

The day of the LSAT came and adrenaline rushed her through it, she said. The three weeks afterward, the waiting for the test score, weighed on her confidence.

Finally, though, she got the e-mail.

It was 7:30 at night. She'd been impatiently waiting all day long, trying to distract herself from checking the computer.

When the e-mail came, she had her boyfriend open it.

Her goal was 170. That's all she wanted. That would make her a competitive applicant.

She scored 172.

She got her mom, Maggie Sorrells, on the phone immediately. And then her friends, her adviser, and of course, her boss.

Her last day at work was Friday. On Monday, she flies to Los Angeles to begin working for a company that teaches the LSAT. She'll work with them through June.

In August, she'll most likely be headed east to Harvard. Her financial aid package is pending, she said.

Bliss hopes she'll come back to the state to practice law, and Sorrells said that she hopes to at least return to the Midwest.

Balogh said, wherever she goes, she's sure to be successful, especially if she stays with her studies at Harvard.

"It's a good sort of event for Shannon, and for the University of Mary to be able to send a person from a fairly small school to Harvard,"Balogh said. "Once she gets there, I think she'll be pretty competitive with other people from other parts of the world."

(Reach reporter Crystal R. Reid at 250-8261 or at crystal.reid@;bismarcktribune.com.)