Imagine being incarcerated before you can even graduate high school, before you can get a first job, before you can start your life. A notable problem present in the criminal justice system is the punishment juveniles can receive for offenses verses the rehabilitation they should have been offered for drug and addiction related problems. In my opinion, this is a notable problem within the justice system. Kids and young adults alike should be given more opportunities to surpass their mistakes and be offered the help the need to succeed rather than put into a cycle that will damage their future further. In my future career I will aid in fixing this problem by advocating for young adults and kids to be put through the process of rehabilitation rather than punishing by a sentencing or charge. I believe that kids and young adults should have more readily available resources to help them fight a global problem against addiction. All people have potential and should be given the opportunity to pursue that path. Thus driving my motivation to be a part of a change for people all around. I want to work with policymakers and communities to offer more solutions and programs for people to receive help rather than being put into the legal system where they are prone to a life where addiction will continue to be a battle for them. In addition, I have taken advantage of a few opportunities to further my education of law and general communication skills. There is a Paralegal program at the college I attend (Saint Petersburg College) I have signed up to attend the seminar to learn more about it and hopefully join and be an active participant in this program. I intend to utilize this program to further my knowledge and allow me to learn about more problems within the state of Florida and in the United States as a whole. I hope to learn about more issues that I am passionate about fighting for. I further intend to use this program to improve my vocabulary and communication skills to better be able to advocate in my future career. Aside from this program, I believe that my current employment allows me to further understand a community that needs to be fought for. I work as a Sales Assistant at a senior living community by the name of Elevate Senior Living. Unknowingly, I joined a job that would allow me to know more about another community of people that are under represented. I believe pursuing this job will allow me to understand how people who can’t defend themselves need others to speak and fight for them. As well as allowing my sales position to help me practice speaking to a range of different people in a professional manner. This job also allows me to network and meet other people who already have a job in law or are passionate about fighting for under represented communities. In regards to these opportunities, my hope is that they will give me more connection to people who need justice and representation. I already have a passion for helping the senior citizens who are being taken advantage because of the amazing people I have met at my community. As well as allowing these opportunities to connect with people who have similar interests as me and can guide me through the journey to becoming an advocate in law, more specifically a lawyer. I hope to learn as much as possible and expand my experience and ability to act in a professional manner with ease.

My earliest memory of being interested in law was when I was in the 5th grade. I was learning about important civil rights cases and my teacher had us watch the movie "Gideon's Trumpet", which was about the Gideon vs. Wainwright case. The movie presented Gideon on the stand trying to defend himself without any representation. Even though I recognized that it was only a movie about a real event, I was still opposed to the thought of innocent people not being represented properly. At the end of the film, when Gideon was properly represented and won his case, I had always thought that being a lawyer would be an interesting and fulfilling job. Since then, I have continued to find small things that nag at my interest in having a career in law. Watching documentaries about people getting convicted who could be innocent makes me want to be a skilled advocate for people who need defending. Not only does defending innocent people spark an interest in me, but providing justice to victims via the prosecution of criminals is another pathway all on its own. I am passionate about getting justice against people who have done wrong. Therefore, I know that I will be able to fulfill my career to its fullest extent. I believe you have to be passionate about what you are doing to excel at it, so I want to have an outlet for my interest in law through a career. Being an advocate of justice is not the only thing that keeps my passion for pursuing a career in law alive. The constant intellectual challenge of the job excites me; having to challenge new topics in every case supports so much of my interest in law. I do not want to have a job that never introduces new challenges for me or seems like the same tasks over and over. I know a career in law will always give me new topics and challenges to learn about and solve. I also want to be able to make a tangible impact on my community. I am passionate about making a difference in my community. Even if it is minimal, it is still a difference. Being able to fight for injustices for the people in my society makes me feel like I could do some good for hard-working people. Studying law also opens up so many different career options. There isn't just one singular pathway. This is important to me because, whilst I know I am passionate about law, life is ever-changing, so I know that there are many different pathways I can take in a career in law. To put it simply, I am passionate about law because I want to be able to make a difference in my community. I want to be able to speak for justice and provide peace of mind for people in need of the law system. I want to be able to pursue a career that does not feel mundane and redundant. I want to learn more about the world through the lens of the law system and the problems that people will bring to the legal field for law advocates to solve. Whilst a movie may have sparked my passion for law (and admittedly a few seasons of Law and Order), I have a growing number of reasons to keep my passion burning. I would like to thank the funder, Samantha Shullman, for offering this scholarship to the community. I appreciate the fact that other high school students harbor the same passion for studying law that I do.