The day I walked into the Supreme Court in Washington D.C. during a trip in the 5th grade, I was instantly smitten. The judicial panel seemed to beckon to me; its imposing marble columns and intricate carvings reminded me of the centuries of ground-breaking decisions made in that very room. I decided that I, too, should like to stand in such an inspiring room as a lawyer, or even a judge. When I voiced these ambitions though, I received the same response: “That’s quite a reach for someone like you!” Someone like me: a woman of color. Success in the field of law and politics seemed like a pipe dream. Growing up, I never saw someone who looked like me standing in front of the podium. That changed in my freshman year when I met Ms. Shonda Mosby, a successful woman of color and mother who serves as a death row appeal attorney. Ms. Mosby volunteered her free time to coach my mock trial team. For the first time in my life, I saw someone who had overcome the obstacles our identity poses in this white, male-dominated field. All of my fears about being unable to reconcile my background and gender with the ambitious role I wished to pursue dissolved as I learned how to craft arguments and navigate a legal career path from Ms. Mosby. I resolved that I would committedly pursue a JD; I am currently committed to Georgetown University for a Government major that will prepare me for law school. My passion for law arose from my interests in public speaking and writing, which I pursued through both Speech and Debate and Mock Trial. Speech and Debate taught me what it is to be a leader, speaker, and active member of my community. As a Vice President and President, I have reformed my school club. By communicating directly with parents, students, administrators, my officers, and tournament directors, I saved our team thousands in fines and built a procedure from scratch that other officers now use to carry on my work. I have developed public speaking skills and confidence through my oratories that I use in every aspect of my life. Part of what motivated me to participate in Speech and Debate was the opportunity to give back to my community. I have led a free program at my junior high school that spread these skills to hundreds of students. My fellow coaches and I put our personal time into coaching other students for free to make up for the lack of support in public schools. For every piece of knowledge I’ve passed on, Speech and Debate has returned it in threefold. I’ve learned how to be resourceful, take initiative, and inspire change. I also joined my school’s Mock Trial team to gain an introduction to the legal world. For the past few years, I have served as a pretrial attorney, pouring over packets of cases, witness statements, and factual situations to craft my own legal arguments in both the regular season and the mock summer trials that my passionately keen team holds to practice. During this time, I’ve drafted five cases while simultaneously coaching other students. Mock Trial has taught me how to look analytically at evidence to draw crucial connections and contrasts, a skill I employ when parsing through the media and politics in today’s world, oversaturated as it is with ‘news’. I have developed the ability to transform three-sentence outlines into powerful arguments that have swayed judges despite the odds being stacked against me time and time again.