The kitchen is the heart of my home. The chaotic smells of spices transport me back into the high-octane city of Saigon. Fiery chilies contrast with vibrant, decadent curry powders. In my home country of Vietnam, I witnessed the lasting effects of war and economic exploitation. In my host country of America, I witnessed the arrival of the floods of refugees fleeing their homes, with my family and I amongst them. Confronted with a new continent and an unfamiliar language, we were like babies taking our first breaths, confused yet in awe of the new world. Coming from a family where nobody has finished primary school, I was motivated to become the first to enter University and now to thrive as a future lawyer. To do so, I strive hard to achieve academically and in community work as a person's character is built by formal education and their application of it. In the three years I have worked at Dorcas International, I taught English to a class of 25 Afghan refugees and helped to design interactive activities to help their learning. I analyzed data on the effectiveness of current training programs and researched domestic and international programs with similar goals. I used my research and data skills from past internships to develop and implement a new and more efficient mentorship and cultural orientation program based on my qualitative research. Teaching at Dorcas International has helped me hone in on many different skills. Importantly, I have learned to be a more effective and empathetic communicator and to approach problems with human-centric solutions. My experience of working closely with communities and on administration levels gave me a unique understanding of how changes are implemented and their impacts. I want to explore these concepts at my current institution and my future law school. I aim to not just learn formal concepts and theories, I want to be able to put my knowledge to actual practice. In my experiences as a refugee and as a citizen of a non-democratic country, I have witnessed many atrocities and hardships. I want to practice immigration law to help those who were in my mom's shoes, fighting for her family to have a better chance at life. I want to participate and contribute to the ever-growing discourse on immigration and refugee policies. With my background and dedication to community engagement, I hope to develop my thought leadership and generate many contributions to the field.