Law School
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Working in the time of COVID
First, I have to preface this by saying–this is bonkers. This is bonkers!! Like some days I still can’t believe we’re living in the midst of a pandemic with such little control. It’s a bit much. As I shared with folks on insta, I’m working from home because I’m “high risk” because of my asthma. Asthma that was just diagnosed this past fall so being able to navigate that on top of a demanding, high stress job while everything seems to be The Worst is a lot. But at the same time I know I’m incredibly fortunate to be able to work from home and not deal with the fears…
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Be Strategic, Be, Be Strategic: Key Steps to Take When Job Searching
I recently shared on instagram about the worst job interview I ever had (and how traumatized I am still from it). Without ~naming names~ the position was for a summer counselor role for pre-law students. I was excited for the opportunity to get to be around other Latinx interested in law, but quickly during the interview I realized I was not going to be selected. The interviewer kept pushing back against each answer, making me rephrase or offer up another example; often interrupting saying my answer wasn’t good enough. At the end of interview, I felt like my experience as a Latina weren’t valid and I felt like shit. It…
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The Danger in Being the First
Wow, so I didn’t think I would write anything substantial about the American Dirt publishing industry scandal but like always Latino USA came through and inspired me. To bring ppl up to speed, American Dirt was written by a White woman and given a seven figure (!) advance by a publishing industry that then turned around and spent even more money to promote it. They landed promos with Latina influencers, a spot on Oprah’s book club, and blurb by the Chicana literary icon, Sandra Cisneros. The book, while fiction, seemed to be steeped in stereotypes and an obvious lack of knowledge of what it means to be Mexican. When a…
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Why Can’t I Shake This? Beating Imposter Syndrome Once and For All
Hi, my name is Nubia and it’s been 0 days since I last felt insecure about my professional capacity. Ok, maybe it’s been more than 0 days, but the reality is that experiencing imposter syndrome is a frequent occurrence and beating it means really working to recognize when it’s happening and then working hard to dismiss it when it occurs. Imposter syndrome is a feeling that you are not capable of doing what you’ve been tasked to do and that at any moment people will discover that you are a fraud. Often we attribute our successes to luck rather than skills and diminish our accomplishments lest others point out just…
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A (1/2) Decade of Latinas Uprising
It’s kind of exciting that we’re entering a new decade right? I think because I’m working on census 2020 stuff all the time at my new job that I’m very aware of this decennial time frame and how much changes in ten years. But this time around, I am a little more relaxed than times past where I had a set timeline of accomplishments and milestones I wanted to work towards. In 2010, my only goal was to graduate law school, pass the bar, and find a full time job as an attorney. I can say that decade really delivered. Not only did I become a lawyer, I laid a…
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An Ode to Vincent Gambini
An ABA Journal post has been making the rounds about Elle Woods and how it inspired so many women to go to law school. I love Legally Blonde and think it’s a cute movie, but if I’m also a little worried that so much love is being poured on Elle Woods and not enough attention is being given to the true patron saint of low-income/first-gen law students, one Vincent “Vinny” LaGuardia Gambini aka John Callo aka John Gallo. First, if you’ve never seen My Cousin Vinny please use whatever million and one streaming apps you have and watch it right meow! Not only is it great, as I’m about to…
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What Does it Mean to Think Like a Lawyer
We often hear this phrase as a new law student and maybe even covet the praise. You give an answer and the professor mentions that now you’re thinking like a lawyer before moving on to stump another student. But what does it mean? Do lawyers really think a certain way? What if you never feel like you’ll get there? Rest assured, once you get through law school you will surely know how to think like a lawyer. But I’m here to explain right now what that really means. Lawyers think analytically, strategically, and only with emotion if it’s necessary. Omg, does this sound like a robot? Yeah, well we’re kind…
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The Guilt that Comes with Family Financial Contributions
A million years ago I watched the documentary about the Baltimore step team and one of the girls was heading to a top college. But she started to get concerned because the FAFSA form included a line of how much her family was expected to contribute and she felt guilty at asking her parents to give so much. Her parents got her all the way together and told her to not worry about their finances. She was their responsibility and they would make sure she got to school. Not everyone has parents with this type of philosophy or have parents that can (or maybe even want to) provide the…
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When You Feel Like You’re Always Failing
I joked on instragram the other day about not letting a trial team’s account follow me because when I was in law school they would never let me on a team. Obviously, it was a joke and I promise I’m not upset by it (anymore!) but it was a good reminder of one of the more draining and frustrating experiences in my law school career. Basically, when I was in school aside from moot court and journals there was an elite trial team and I wanted nothing more to join them. I tried out my 1L and 2L year–and while 1L was a disaster–by 2L year, I had grown a…
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Is Law School Worth It?
We’ve spoken before about how law school isn’t really for anyone–it’s a difficult experience for almost everyone. But here I am pushing all lawtinas to reach this goal and for what? We definitely hear about all the downsides of law school (primarily the debt), but what are the real tangible, benefits you receive once you earn a JD? One of the reasons I encourage more of us to become attorneys is because being a lawyer isn’t just another career option. Lawyers are leaders. They are the ones looked to during crisis. They are the ones that help create, set, and executive policies and laws that impact our loved ones’ daily…