I still have socks stained by red dirt. But I left Rwanda in 2010 with far more than dirty socks: I left with a resolve that doing nothing in the face of injustice was not an option for me. After visiting, learning more about the atrocities of the 1994 genocide, and spending time with people affected by it, I read something striking. Gary Haugen arrived in Rwanda immediately after the killings ended to lead the United Nations Special Investigation Unit to assess the genocide’s damages. As he took in the horrors, he wrote that he questioned: ‘God, where were you?’ He says he felt God answer back: ‘Where were you?’ In 1997, he founded International Justice Mission, a nonprofit focused on human rights, law, and law enforcement. We are the solution to injustice. People standing up for, and doing, what is right in the face of injustice is what dismantles oppression. I want to practice law to combat injustice and work for a more just and equitable society. I’ve had the honor of telling domestic sex and labor trafficking survivors’ intimate stories for my university thesis. As a community watchdog journalist, I exposed sexual harassment in government workplaces and revealed a criminal probe into a city police sergeant, which was swept under the rug, to the community in which I worked. Both stories earned New York State Associated Press Association Investigative and Watchdog Reporting awards. For a summer in Cambodia, I volunteered to combat sex trafficking through storytelling and photography. I spent six weeks in Svay Pak, a village off the Mekong River, which was once a red-light district where children were bought and sold by their parents. But now, the village is home to a children’s school and an employment center for their parents. I saw how deep, systemic change is possible when communities are empowered to create solutions. While every moment of that justice work was fulfilling – I realized it was not enough for me. I need to do more. If you were to ask my mother what my anthem was as a young child, she’d tell you it was how I’d always say, “But that’s not fair!” Her predictable response would be, “Life isn’t fair.” That answer never satisfied me. Storytelling and advocacy as a journalist - while vital to serving the public and the pursuit of social justice – is ‘too late’ for me. It was not the best fit for my passion to correct injustices in real time. Instead of telling stories of what’s already broken, I would rather be a zealous advocate on the frontlines to heal and make right the systems of oppression that are expressly written into our laws. I can contribute to combating systemic injustices, which are further enabled and supported by our legislation, policy, and criminal justice systems. While I’ve had the honor of coming alongside victims and survivors as an advocate, friend, and trusted person to help share their stories, I have what it takes to join the active fight as an actual change agent. I’m compelled to dismantle systemic inequity and injustice and secure fairness and equity in people's lives. I can no longer merely raise awareness of rampant social injustices, such as human trafficking. I decided to become a lawyer to directly represent and advocate for individuals facing injustice. The time to combat injustice is overdue. The answer is us. And I want to show up on time.

I didn’t even want him. I wasn’t sure I wanted a dog at all, actually. But my husband really did and I knew I wanted one SOME day so I finally decided we could go for it. Then, the dog we wanted was sold on our way to visit her and “pick” her out. But she had a brother still available, so we decided to visit anyways just in case. But I was pretty sure I didn’t want him — I could tell from the photos that he was disproportionate. He had short legs and a long torso, you could tell he was the shortest of all his siblings even as an 8-week-old puppy. But then, we met him. And instantly saw how sweet and tender he was and I knew we weren’t leaving without him. The family who bred him had a 2-year-old toddler. And while the dog we thought we wanted was zipping around the living room, biting at the couch and trying to pull off throw pillows — Fenway, our sweet boy, was letting the toddler hold him in his lap and give him love. We immediately saw he had such a sweet disposition and knew he was our boy. And now? I am absolutely, irrevocably obsessed with Fenway. He is such a joy and brings so much life to our days, weeks, months, etc. He was born on New Year’s Day which is so fitting of his personality — he brings newness to everything, opening my eyes again to wonder. He takes the time to just sit by the edges of the ponds in our neighborhood, just watching the water and the ducks. He reminds me to take in the beauty of the everyday, whether chasing a butterfly in the grass or sitting by the calm water for a moment just to “be.” Fenway has never met a stranger, he is extremely social and always wants every dog and human to be his best friend. He’s only a 19-pound mini bernedoodle, and ironically one of his best friends in the neighborhood (since he was a tiny 7lb pup) is a 120+ pound giant schnauzer. He’s always down for an adventure, and is a great traveler. We live in South Florida where he loves digging in the sand at the beach and going for kayak rides. He’s experienced fall on his grandparents farm in upstate New York and swam in Lake Ontario there in the summer. He’s romped through the snow in Minnesota with his puff vest and marveled at the snow and the falling flakes. Each day I’m so blessed this sweet boy is ours. He typically sleeps at the foot of our bed, but every morning, without fail, he hears the morning alarm and comes and curls up by our heads for morning snuggles. He’s getting a baby sibling in a few months, and we know he is going to be the absolute best big brother to his human baby. We can’t wait to watch the sweet bond he & baby will have and are so happy that we lucked into getting the sweetest, short legged, boy in our family. He picked us and continues to win our hearts everyday. I am in my last year of law school to get my J.D. My dream job is to be a civil litigator, and to represent clients who have been victims of injustice.

My favorite song on Taylor Swift’s ‘1989’ album is "Welcome to New York," because the song is incredibly upbeat and catchy. The song is reminiscent of coming of age, and stepping into your purpose and who you know you were made to be. "Welcome to New York, it's been waitin' for you Welcome to New York, welcome to New York Welcome to New York, it's been waitin' for you Welcome to New York, welcome to New York It's a new soundtrack, I could dance to this beat, beat forevermore The lights are so bright, but they never blind me, me Welcome to New York (New York), it's been waitin' for you Welcome to New York, welcome to New York" These lines above speak to a new reality waiting for us if we're ready to step in and live up to our own potential. Its as if the life we're destined to live is "waiting" for us to say yes to the adventure and the journey. The line about the lights being bright, but never blinding also speaks to being able to live boldly and living as "bright" as we can, knowing we're made to shine and not to hide. There is also a line about how "everybody here was someone else before," and I love how that speaks to our ability to grow, adapt, heal, and change as we continue through life. We're never "stuck" as long as we're willing to grow and willing to learn to dance to a new beat. "Like any great love, it keeps you guessing Like any real love, it's ever-changing Like any true love, it drives you crazy But you know you wouldn't change anything, anything, anything" I also love these lines as it speaks to a love of ourselves, and a love of our own life. The idea that even our own life can keep us guessing. It speaks to the permission we have as individuals to continue to change, and to be "ever-changing," but learning to embrace that journey. In a way, the song also speaks to second chances, as it continues to refer to being in New York as "It's a new soundtrack." The "new soundtrack" refers to the new soundtrack we live our lives to, and our ability to change the soundtrack and to embrace new places, new attitudes, new adventures, new purposes, and new callings. The song is all about fresh starts, adventure, and coming into your own and I think that is worth celebrating.

Living to my fullest potential by engaging in work that betters the lives of people in the community around me.

I still have socks stained by red dirt. But I left Rwanda in 2010 with far more than dirty socks: I left with a resolve that doing nothing in the face of injustice was simply not an option for me. After visiting, learning more about the atrocities of the 1994 genocide and spending time with people affected by it, I read something striking. Gary Haugen arrived in Rwanda immediately after the killings ended to lead the United Nations Special Investigation Unit to assess the genocide’s damages. As he took in the horrors, he wrote that he questioned: ‘God, where were you?’ He says he felt God answer back: ‘Where were you?’ In 1997 he founded International Justice Mission, a nonprofit focused on human rights, law, and law enforcement. We are the solution to injustice. People standing up for and doing what is right in the face of injustice is what dismantles oppression. I had the honor of telling survivors of domestic sex and labor trafficking’s intimate stories for my university thesis. As a community watchdog journalist, I exposed sexual harassment in government workplaces and revealed a criminal probe into a city police sergeant, which was swept under the rug, to the community in which I worked. Both stories earned New York State Associated Press Association Investigative and Watchdog Reporting awards. For a summer in Cambodia, I volunteered to combat sex trafficking through storytelling and photography. I spent weeks in Svay Pak, a village off the Mekong River, which was once a red-light district where children were bought and sold by their parents. But now, the village is home to a children’s school and an employment center for their parents. I saw how deep, systemic change is possible when communities are empowered to create solutions. While every moment of that justice work was fulfilling – I realized it’s not enough for me. I need to do more. In fact, if you were to ask my mother what my anthem was as a young child, she’d tell you it was how I’d always say, “But that’s not fair!” Her predictable response would be, “life isn’t fair.” That answer never satisfied me. Storytelling and advocacy - while vital to serving the public and the pursuit of social justice – is ‘too late’ for me. It’s not the best fit for my passion to right injustices in real-time. Instead of telling stories of what’s already broken, I would rather be a zealous advocate on the frontlines to heal and make right the systems of oppression that are expressly written into our laws. I can contribute to combating systemic injustices, which are further enabled and supported by our legislation, policy, and criminal justice systems. While I’ve had the honor of coming alongside victims and survivors as an advocate, friend, and trusted person to help share their stories; I have what it takes to join the active fight as a true change agent. I’m compelled to dismantle systemic inequity and injustice and to secure fairness and equity in the lives of the people. I can no longer merely raise awareness of rampant social injustices, such as human trafficking. The time to combat injustice is overdue. The answer is us. And I want to show up on time.

Our lives depend on upholding the US Constitution. Our civil rights are one of the most important things we have, and we cannot continue to let them be stripped away and dissolved. The lives of many in our community literally depend on the integrity of the Constitution, and the rights afforded under the Constitution must be afforded to all citizens equally. As a former investigative journalist, I've always had a passion for discovering and sharing the truth. I believe true change in a community can only happen with citizens are informed. For example, I had the honor of exposing police corruption while working as a community journalist. This was an important story that continued to unfold over many months, and I followed it diligently and closely. I first discovered something was not right while sitting in a criminal court hearing. The County's District Attorney and a man's criminal defense attorney got into an argument in open court, and I quickly began to realize all was not as it seemed in this particular man's case. This "discovery" eventually led to months of interviews with criminal defendants, attorneys, the police chief, the city, and ultimately an enterprise-length story uncovering the corruption of a particular officer as well as the police department that tried to cover for him. Now, as a law student, I am still passionate about individuals' rights, but rather than informing a community about the abuses of those in power, I seek to represent the rights of individuals against those who are in power. As a future lawyer, I hope to become a civil litigation attorney who handles §1983 police misconduct claims for issues such as excessive force and abuses of power. I am passionate about speaking truth to power and will use my career as a lawyer to do that for the rest of my life. Just as a journalist is a "watchdog of society" who has the ability to reveal hidden things to the public, a lawyer similarly has a unique role in shaping society. As a lawyer, I plan to help shape a more just, fair, and equitable future for all. Particularly by representing people who have had their civil rights and civil liberties infringed on by the government. One of the most beautiful things about our democracy is that we have the ability to call those in power into account. Lawyers, in particular, have the ability not only to speak truth to power but also the ability to call for those in power to change for a better future. That is precisely what I plan to do.

1. What social issue facing the US most concerns you? One of the most concerning social issues facing the US is the incarceration of Black and Brown people at astoundingly higher rates than people of other races, in spite of data that shows that Black and Brown people commit certain crimes at far lower rates than people who are white, for example. 2. What is necessary to create a system that operates "with liberty and justice for all"? Unfortunately, there is much that must change to have a justice system that operates with liberty and justice for all. For one, state public defenders should be paid the same salaries as state prosecutors. Where I live in Broward County, FL, for example, state public defenders make markedly lower salaries than prosecutors which is a huge issue as both prosecutors and public defenders -- particularly public defenders -- are who uphold the justice system. We also need progressive prosecution offices and sweeping criminal justice reform. Criminal justice reform must start from the ground up and include better educational initiatives for students, especially those struggling in school, more training and regulation of local police departments so that law enforcement is more equitable, progressive reforms in prosecution offices to promote rehabilitation over imprisonment, and a more of a focus on restorative justice, especially for minors and young adults accused of committing crimes. 3. What work do you propose to do and how will it be impactful? I propose to do study in my time in law school on how the foster care system and criminal justice system intertwine and how the justice system can better prevent, support, and help children in the foster care system from being involved in the criminal justice system and how they can avoid recidivism. 4. What findings or outcomes would be most important and how will you evaluate the success of your research project or program? It will be important to see at what rates children in the foster care system are charged with crimes compared with other minors, and which types of crimes foster children are most commonly charged with. These findings would be able to help pinpoint where foster children need more support, and the types of crimes committed could also reveal importing findings about their environments and additional support they need to lead healthy lives.