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Latinas in Law School: What Made You So Lucky?
A few months ago I was at a forum where the moderator asked the panelist (all Latinos working in large firms/government) what made them so lucky in the face of dismal statistics that say Latinos can’t make it in law. It’s a difficult question and I think the instinctive reaction is to think of the hard things you did to make sense of how we overcame a system of oppression to join a privileged profession. Because if I think back on my journey to become an attorney, I can pick out countless of examples of difficult things I had to do to succeed—long nights; working multiple jobs; feeling lonely because…
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Creating Good Habits in Law School
I’ve never felt a constantly physical ill feeling until I started law school and neared finals. It felt like such a do or die period and I was so 1) completely ignorant of the process and 2) incredibly nervous. I started having a lot of physical symptoms (b/c that’s how I manifest stress) that resulted in making a lot of bad choices because those brought instant-gratification and would quell my stress. But of course, that became a vicious cycle because often that bad choice would eventually make me feel worse–and did little to help my stress. I’m sure many of you who are starting finals are beginning to feel that…
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Raise Your Voice: Student Activism
My freshman year in college, I innocently walked into a workshop about white supremacy. I had imagined I would learn about overt acts of racism (a la the KKK) but I when the workshop ended, I walked out stunned. My 19 year old brain had never been exposed to the idea of systemic oppression (please cut me some slack–it was very early 2000s and information did not travel like it does now). That day was probably one of the most formative days in school–it was like a curtain had been pulled back and suddenly so many things made sense, while so many more created confusion. After that workshop, it still…
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Breaking Barriers: Cultivating Soft Factors
This series, Breaking Law School Barriers, tackles the big and small issues that come into play when you’re deciding if you’ll even attend law school. The purpose is to give practical advice for college students, and for current law students and attorneys to give suggestions about their real world experience. If you’ve researched applying for law school then you know that LSAT score and GPA is king. And if you believe most online forums, then you may think that you shouldn’t bother to apply if you don’t have Elle Woods type stats. I remember when I first started applying, I believed all the hype from the forums and became nervous because I…
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When Family Emergencies Impact Law School
The unfortunate thing about law school is that you don’t go through it in a vacuum. Other people keep living their lives and experience milestones and setbacks while you’re trying to make it to the next semester. If big emergencies arise it can really affect your grades and law school trajectory in big ways. In my case, the morning we were supposed to register for our spring semester 1L courses–I spent the day sobbing because my father had been diagnosed with cancer (he’s healthy now, thank God). I was just an emotional wreck, and while I needed to let it all out emotionally, I ended up missing out on registering…
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The Importance of Diversity (and I’m not talking about Race)
If I have not scared you enough into preparing for your summer job then rest assured I will keep trying. Appointments with career services will be here soon and deadlines will be fast approaching, and one of the things you have to decide soon is where you’re planning to apply. Perhaps you had a really good experience with an agency your 1L summer. Or you’ve been interning during the fall semester with a new agency that you really are enjoying. It’s natural to want to keep working for a place you enjoy. However, if you’re dealing with a legal market where offers are not certain, or you’re working public interest where…
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Notorious RBG, A Book Review
It’s hard to not sound like a fan girl when discussing Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, but there’s good reason to be her fan! It may sound like an exaggeration to say she paved the way for gender equality in the law, but when you study women jurisprudence you can see how vital she is to this movement. So imagine how excited I was to be able to review Notorious RBG*!? Super excited. However, I’m going to calm down my inner fan girl and give this book an appropriate review. The book is written by journalist Irin Carmon and attorney, Shana Knizhnik. I have often wanted to read more about RBG,…
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The Question to Ask during Mid-Terms: Am I doing Ok?
One of the most common problems with law school is that we barrel past every week without thinking much about what you just learned. This makes sense because who has time to sit down and think about past topics when you have so many new ones to learn, on top of papers, job applications, life… But it’s a big misstep to not stop and ask yourself during mid-terms: am I doing ok? And I’m not referring to mental health (though do stop occasionally to think about that). Rather, are you understanding the material? Do you get what the professors are trying to teach you? Are you forming and flexing the…
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What Can Mentorships Look Like?
We have spoken before about finding mentors that work for you. And having someone (or many someones) guide you is vital to a flourishing professional career. But when you’re new to this profession; when your family doesn’t consist of professionals—how do you find someone to take you under their wing? Because I came up without having much (any) connections to the legal industry, I thought it would be helpful to show what my mentorships have looked like and how these relationships formed. Overall, the main theme has been that my relationships grew organically—I never sought anyone out and asked if they would mentor me. Rather, I formed relationships with professors/professionals…
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Celebrating Accomplishments: Si Se Pudo
It’s that time of year again–Bar announcements. And I’ve seen many have already gotten really great news! Felicidades! It’s such an exciting time! So this seemed like a great time to talk about the importance of acknowledging professional accomplishments. A common theme we see as women is that our professional achievements aren’t celebrated as strongly as events tied to family. This article does a great job of describing the problem. I also remember reading an article years ago where a girl from a small town, where many of her peers couldn’t go to college because of teen pregnancy, graduated high school and was accepted into college. Her achievement was so foreign…