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When Your Professor is Racist
Hello! It’s been a minute and really this entire week I have been watching and reading about the attacks in Virginia. It has made me more guarded and angry. And I really don’t know what the solution will be, but I guess we can only take it one day at time or whatever. Anyway, the best way for me to refocus this energy is to connect with this community and I want to talk about ignorance in the classroom, which seems like it will be especially prevalent now. We’ve discussed reacting to ignorant comments by classmates before, but we haven’t discussed what happens when your instructor holds ideas that put your…
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Don’t Believe the Hype: Navigating Negative Emotions as a First Gen Student
I often mention how many Latinas going into the law are family leaders. Maybe you were the one that interpreted for your parents, or your siblings look to you for guidance/advice on big decisions, or maybe you’ve blazed an educational path for the rest of your family as a first gen student. This type of trailblazing status is a prominent feature in many Latina lawyers (and leaders) in our community. It is a powerful label—to be the trailblazer, the first—it paints an image of a driven, focused person. It’s a worthy title for so many of us. But it is also a difficult one. Being first can mean frustration, isolation,…
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Three Years and Three Big Lessons
I can’t believe it’s been three years since I went live with his site! When I first started Latinas Uprising, I had no clue what type of community I would find—I just knew that surely there were others that experienced the legal profession in the same manner as me. In time, I have met so many amazing women. Women who are focused, driven, passionate, and outspoken—I’m always so impressed and motivated by the accomplishments of this community! So, with that in mind, I wanted to share three things I’ve learned in the past three years: One. Latinas are amazing. Is this obvious? Maybe. In general, I know amazing Latinas who…
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There’s No Such Thing As Reverse Racism
Today, I woke up to the news that this administration is planning to investigate colleges that discriminate against White people. Specifically, they are planning to attack affirmative action programs. As an advocate for increased access to education in the Latinx community, campaigns like this make me want to scream. Anyone who is genuine about education and increased access knows that AA programs do not harm people in power. In fact, and please repeat this until you can’t say it anymore, white women have benefited the most from affirmative action. Affirmative action programs and policies gave me a spot in schools and situations where I likely would have been overlooked in…
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Side Bar: Summer Nights
July can’t be over because that means I only have one week with interns left. Waaaa! This summer has been nothing if not productive. If I play my cards right, I will have filed TEN applications this month, which is unheard of (for me)! Ok but other than filing cases, July was like perfect Chicago summer for me. July included some fun at the beach My best friend visited from Tx and I got to hang with my baby buddy Lincoln! Hung out with my prima (who’s going back to Tampa soon 🙁 ) She finished her semester and will be going back for the fall semester in…
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Summer Series: The Prelaw Fun Before the Law School Storm
Our Summer Series is coming to a close! This series highlights different Latina students and law grads as they embark in their summer jobs and/or bar prep all across the country. We hope to provide a variety of work experiences, options for a healthy work-life balance, and general motivation through different guest contributors to help you to take charge of your summer and professional goals! Today we hear from Yadilsa, a soon to be law student who decided that rather than worry about the stress and hardship of law school–she’s going to enjoy life and made the most of her prelaw summer: When people ask me who I am, it can be difficult…
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Breaking Barriers: Overcoming the 1L Emotional Roller Coaster
By now, I’m sure most of you have heard or read that super odd article by David Brooks. He tried to explain that the rich and powerful maintain a culture of separatism from other socioeconomic brackets in an effort to keep others from joining their ranks. A valid point, followed by the most asinine example of a friend too stupid to pick out sandwiches, apparently. I definitely side-eyed the hell out of that example, but I have to admit that he was right in that there’s a culture and code that is hard to break into. If you’re about to enter into law school soon, I don’t want to scare…
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Summer Series: Reconnecting with your Purpose
Our Summer Series continues! This series highlights different Latina students and law grads as they embark in their summer jobs and/or bar prep all across the country. We hope to provide a variety of work experiences, options for a healthy work-life balance, and general motivation through different guest contributors to help you to take charge of your summer and professional goals! Today we hear from Krystlen, a rising 2L from Florida, who is re-connecting with her community after feeling disconnected from her classmates during her 1L year at Hofstra: I always get asked what my plans are after law school, which is understandable, but absolutely absurd to me considering that a year ago,…
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Disconnect: How to Really Enjoy a Vacation Away from the Office
Everyone claims that disconnecting from work is important when you’re on vacation. Well, I was just on a vacation where I was completely disconnected as in I had no access to internet at all—and it was not soothing. Rather, I had an internal scream going off in my head about possible emergencies and fires happening while I was away. It was anything but soothing and if I had been able to check my email even once a day, I would have felt much better. So this advice comes from a person who very much likes being connected. And in truth, I think that it bothers family members/friends more when you…
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Summer Series: Breaking the Prison Pipeline
Our Summer Series continues! This series highlights different Latina students and law grads as they embark in their summer jobs and/or bar prep all across the country. We hope to provide a variety of work experiences, options for a healthy work-life balance, and general motivation through different guest contributors to help you to take charge of your summer and professional goals! Today we hear from Crystal, a rising 3L from California, who describes the vital impact attorneys make in the lives of our Latinx youth: Growing up, my oldest brother, Christian, was in and out of juvenile detention centers. Among many other reasons, his experience is why I pursued law school. Even when I…