Question 1: I will be attending Yale Law School in the fall where I hope to concentrate in human rights law. Question 2: Outside of my formal education, I credit my professional experience for molding my commitment to pursuing learning and intellectual growth. My work with the National Partnership for New Americans and the Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition has given me a comprehensive understanding of our existing immigration legal system. To effectively advocate for immigrants, I had to educate myself on the issues facing these communities and become an expert rather quickly. I would read up on scholarly work and research whenever I had to help brainstorm policy initiatives for organizations.   I led community education and outreach efforts on campaigns and services to ensure immigrant communities were up-to-speed on policy changes and services. This meant I had to engage and form relationships with various immigrant and refugee communities.   I gained insights that transcended cultural barriers and allowed me to weave inclusivity and empathy in my work and tailor my approaches to different communities. I deepened my understanding of the complexities faced by these communities, which heightened my cultural competency. Most importantly, the relationships I formed enriched my professional capabilities and instilled a greater appreciation for serving the public good. I was able to find my calling from these experiences and grow intellectually. They showcased that I was able to make a positive impact on these communities through legal advocacy and education and further solidified my desire to pursue a career in public interest law. Question 3: As someone who has experienced the criminal justice system through a family member's incarceration, I know, all too well, the physical, emotional, and financial toll that comes with the carceral system. In the summer of 2020, at a time of social unrest and racial reckoning, I co-founded an organization with my friends where we explored the links between policing and punitive discipline and their direct impact on a student’s trajectory and the school-to-prison pipeline. After considerable research and community education, we made policy recommendations to the Nashville City Council that we assumed would be successful. These policy recommendations included introducing social and emotional learning programs and the removal of school resource officers from public schools. To our surprise, we hit several roadblocks. The main roadblock was that there was not a political appetite to engage this issue. We received a lot of pushback from elected officials/police, various organizations, parents, and even students. There was even a fear amongst ourselves that we could be targeted by alt-right organizations such as Moms for Liberty.  This experience changed me in a couple of ways. The first is that I developed a greater appreciation for local advocacy. The second thing I learned was that change can not happen overnight. It requires convincing/buy-in and long-term strategic thinking. Despite these roadblocks, we continued to advocate, and while we were not able to achieve all of our goals, we were able to get a couple of things done: SROs were no longer in elementary schools, and policing in schools has become a more salient topic in these spaces. Question 4: This might be a cop-out, but if I had the resources to create a philanthropic initiative, I would support local human rights initiatives in the U.S. South. I understand that human rights is an umbrella term and encompasses many issues, but I do not believe that one specific cause is enough. Being on the ground here in the South, I have a keen pulse of what is at stake. Rights all across the board are being rolled back. Democratic principles are eroding. Just this past year in Tennessee, we have seen the state subvert the will of the people and expel two democratically elected officials calling for gun safety, the defunding of public goods, and so forth. To combat this authoritarian movement happening in the South, there needs to be an intersectional philanthropic approach to this issue. Moreover, recipients of my funding will have to work across movements and build coalitions. If we continue to work in silos and avoid working in coalition, then we can never achieve a truly just and equitable society. Lastly, my philanthropic initiatives will have a local lens to it. Effective local advocacy encourages collaboration and coalition-building among diverse groups, strengthening the collective ability to influence policy outcomes. Local advocacy initiatives can also catalyze broader social and political change. Successful initiatives can inspire similar levels in other communities and at higher levels of government.