At first, the COVID-19 pandemic threatened to knock Class VIII of the Leadership Academy for a devastating loop, preventing in-person meetings for an entire year.

“We had to adjust, big time,” said Class VIII fellow Lyndsey Siara, a senior staff attorney with the 13th Judicial Circuit. “Obviously, we were in a unique position of never having met.”

But instead of disrupting the class, adversity drew the aspiring Bar leaders closer together — and ignited a creative spark, Siara said.