-
Summer Fashion for New Interns: dos & don’ts
I always am hesitant to talk about clothing and young women. I just think finger-wagging about what women in their 20s wear is such a slippery slope that leads to micro-managing, is patronizing, and just a ball of trouble. And also the older I get, the more bitter I would look going around talking about “girls” these days. Like, I’m not about that look. So here is my preface regarding this post. Wear what you want. If you need whatever flare you think is helping you feel more put together than go for it. I mean, who am I to say that that short skirt you may wear is any…
-
Career Advancement: Are You Blooming?
I’ve been really fortunate that a lot of my job duties and focus have changed about every two years. This has kept me interested and learning new areas of laws and skills, which is really fortunate because there’s a risk that we get stuck in the day to day and accidentally become stagnant in the work we do. And that is a disaster for your career. We should be constantly growing and looking for new opportunities, and I don’t mean job-hopping, I mean really growing in your craft. Of course, when you’re new to practicing everything is challenging and new, obvi, but a few years in you need to make…
-
Breaking Barriers: FAFSA and Proving You’re Low-Income
April is Financial Literacy Month and I want to talk about financial aid for school. For the most part, I depended on FAFSA to help pay for college and law school. I was super thankful to have access to grants, scholarships, and loans but it wasn’t easy to navigate the financial aid system with little help. While I’m years removed from filing for FAFSA, I do recall the feelings of anxiety—would this year’s package give me enough to cover everything? How will my mom help pay the family portion? How much will I need to earn this summer? Can I find another campus job? I’ll be honest that I hella…
-
A Community Living Through Trauma
I’ve been think a lot about trauma and the experience of Latino youth. What spoke to me most recently was the video of this young girl, Fatima, crying because the U.S. government took her father away from her. It’s clear by their story that her dad is an immense part of her life, a supporter, motivator, protector, provider—everything a good dad is. And now he’s been ripped from her. For what purpose? I read this story and thought of countless of others that I’ve read of Latino children who live in constant fear and anxiety of this happening to their families. Who hear their parents being called illegal or criminals.…
-
First Impression: What if You’re Not Good Enough?
A few weeks ago I read some reports from the Yellow Paper Series—reports on studies conducted on racism and bias in the legal field. The report, Written in Black & White, discusses the way implicit bias impacts how supervising attorneys review written assignments by attorneys of color, specifically Black attorneys. Previous studies have shown that supervising attorney are more likely than not to perceive Black lawyers as having subpar writing skills in comparison to their white counterparts. Written in Black & White delved further in the topic by seeking out whether confirmation bias causes supervising attorneys to then evaluate legal writing by Black attorneys in a more negative light. Implicit…
-
Grow Your Circle: The Benefits of Being an Active Alumna
A common theme I hear from attorneys of color is the disconnect they feel from their law school. It’s a disconnect I have often felt. While the school never feels purposefully unwelcoming, it’s always very obvious that this is a space that’s not necessarily for us. For most of us, it’s all about getting our JD and bouncing. And because we never felt like that space was for us, we often don’t take the time to come back, in meaningful ways, to make sure the students after us have a better experience. I get why–you have a real job, real friends, family, responsibilities that take priority. Duh. But I fear…
-
Don’t Take It Personal: Working to Accept Constructive Criticism
Previously, I’ve discussed my experience with the public defender’s office and how it was less than ideal. This was the first professional environment where getting yelled at was super common–not just by the clients and victims, who frequently sexually harassed me, but by the attorneys. This isn’t a shade post on PDs–I think the work they do is incredible and not respected enough, but my personal experience was bad. So bad that I can confidently say that I have never had a boss as straight up cray as I did my first time around with the PDs (I actually did two rounds with them lol). After that experience, I had…
-
Show, Don’t Tell: How to Master the Art of Self-Promotion
We talk a lot about letting go of humildad, getting comfortable with self-promotion, etc. but it is a fine line between being good at self-promotion and looking like you’re feeling yourself a little too much, especially when you’re new and may not have the experience to back up everything you’re claiming. So how do you walk this line? The key here is to show, don’t tell. When you’re new, all you can really do is stack up those wins. Small and large victories will help boost your ability and reputation at work. And it’s not all about litigation in the courtroom– it’s being able to point to specific skills you…
-
Mastering Law School: What Worked for Me
If you’ve been reading this for a while, you know I’m a proponent of “study how you study,” as the only real way to study case law. Meaning, if you do flash cards, do flash cards, but if that’s not your style then don’t sweat it. When I first started, I wrote up case briefs, but had no real idea of the purpose. I wrote them up, ready to glance at them if I was called on in class, but never used them as a study tool. It was a waste of my time. I also didn’t have a study schedule, doing all my readings the night before class (why…
-
Why You have to be Twice as Good
It’s not fair. It’s not fair. It’s not fair–I know. It’s not fair that we have to be twice as good to get the recognition and acclaim and basic respect as some mediocre/average people who happen to sit in positions of power and privilege. If we do twice the work, we should get double the rewards! But sadly, we’re not there yet. A resounding common-thread of advice that successful Latina lawyers share is that you have to be doubly prepared to exceed expectations and gain traction in your career. The reason for that is two-fold. One, we want to blow dumb asses that question our abilities out of the water.…