It’s common knowledge around Syracuse University that the leader of the free world was not necessarily the top of his class.

But the work put in by a young Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. on the SU hill would lead to years of success from the halls of Congress to the White House.

As president, Joe Biden makes his way back to the Salt City Thursday where he got his law degree. That very law school may be shaping some of the future leaders in the Empire State and the nation

"I'm here. I'm going to get the same piece of paper that arguably the most powerful person on the planet has," said Syracuse University College of Law senior Kendall Anderson. "That that propels you, inspires you at least to know you can do anything you want, really."

Within the Syracuse University College of Law, there’s the Student Bar Association.

"Our big job is addressing all student concerns. So if a student has a problem or if a student wants to see an event happen, it's our responsibility to make sure that it happens," said the student bar's executive president Jessica Senzer.

She said you get in what you put in.

"I was on a journal, I'm on advocacy, honor society. So I chose to make law school the most extensive experience it could be," she said.

The law school experience is certainly one of challenge and growth.

"We never know what to expect. It has definitely provided me with a foundation for which I can bounce off of and continue to grow as a leader," Senzer added. "And I think that these skills are transferable skills."

Helping her address concerns for the student body is executive vice president and aforementioned Kendall Anderson.

"When you get somewhere and you feel like home, you kind of just get that feeling. And I felt that was Syracuse," he said.

While he recognizes the legacy left by not only the current president, there’s much more to focus on for prospective future leaders in these halls.

"When I started out, we really only had two in-person classes — one major bar class, and the other was just my legal writing class," Anderson added. "How we teach the law and how we gear learning towards the students is going to evolve."

Taking on the law school on the hill, presidential alumni certainly is a draw, but less for the person — more for the message.

"I believe every Supreme Court justice had come from an Ivy League school. You always hear about people coming from this place or that place or doing things. So it really is a great feeling just that, you know, somebody who didn't walk these halls because it's a new building, but somebody who went to the same place as you, was in the same community as you, learned a lot of obviously the law has evolved," said Anderson. "But they learn the same things and they had this very same or similar experience. And you come from you're just rooted here and you're a part of those roots."

"So I think just knowing that irrespective of where you come from, what your walk of life is, it doesn't matter," added Senzer. "Anyone can do this work if you put in the effort and if it's what you want to do."