"What is the purpose of your visit to the United States?" My heart pounded as I gripped my pink suitcase with my clammy hands and avoided eye contact with the border patrol officer. When we arrived at my grandmother's house, my mom took an unbelievable amount of time to fold and hang the seven outfits I had packed neatly. Meanwhile, my dad made me recite his telephone number over a dozen times. We held each other in a warm embrace, and then my mother inconsolably cried as she waved goodbye from the car. As a nine-year-old, I left my home's comforts in Mexico to learn English and experience American culture in the US. I was born and raised in Nuevo Laredo, a border city in northern Mexico. Throughout the early 2000s, organized crime in Mexico increased as drug cartels and corrupt government officials took over my country. Both my parents' extended families immigrated to the US, hoping to escape the wave of violence that overtook Nuevo Laredo. My parents, however, stayed. Although my parents would later regret their decision, I am thankful to have grown up in Mexico because the experience forged me into the resilient person I am today. I have to admit that I lived in naïve ignorance before coming to the US. Lying flat on my stomach whenever I heard the sound of a continuous shooting outside and getting home before sunset to avoid encounters with drug cartels felt normal to me. Living in Mexico, one becomes increasingly desensitized to violence and injustice as we learn to accept the cruel reality dictated by organized crime and drug cartels. In my short year living in the US, I learned more than just English. After all, there is a reason that we call the US the land of the free. For the first time in my short life, I experienced freedom, peace, and safety. Living in the US represented a different normal - one filled with opportunities and the possibility of a better life. I became determined to return to the US to pursue an education and a future career in a field that would allow me to maintain peace and justice in my community. I aspire to practice law because I have been fortunate to become the first in my extended family to earn a bachelor's degree in the US. I wish to use this opportunity to help others pursue a better life through my acquired knowledge and experience. I have long held the desire to dedicate my life to a service-driven vocation. Given the disproportionate under-representation of Hispanic and Latino communities in the legal industry, I hope to become the voice of change for those who have systematically been at a disadvantage within the US legal system. Even though my journey to the US is in no way comparable to the life-threatening experience of thousands of immigrants, I can empathize with the overwhelming feeling of confusion and fear that comes from moving to a foreign place in search of a better life. I look forward to continuing my studies in the law field and, in doing so, contributing my grain of sand in the making of a more equal and diverse society. Receiving the scholarship would greatly support my pursuit of legal education and enable me to continue my studies in law school. With the scholarship funds, I would be able to alleviate the financial burden associated with tuition, textbooks, BAR exam prep courses, and other educational expenses.

I was born and raised in Nuevo Laredo, a border city in northern Mexico. Throughout the early 2000s, organized crime in Mexico increased as drug cartels and corrupt government officials took over my country. Both my parents' extended families immigrated to the US, hoping to escape the wave of violence that overtook Nuevo Laredo. My parents, however, stayed. I am thankful to have grown up in Mexico because the experience forged me into the resilient person I am today. I must admit that I lived in naive ignorance before coming to the US. Lying flat on my stomach whenever I heard continuous shooting outside and getting home before sunset to avoid encounters with drug cartels felt normal to me. Living in Mexico, one becomes increasingly desensitized to violence and injustice as we learn to accept the cruel reality dictated by organized crime and drug cartels. In my short year living in the US, I learned more than just English. For the first time in my short life, I experienced freedom, peace, and safety. I became determined to return to the US to pursue an education and a future career in a field that would allow me to maintain peace and justice in my community. I aspire to practice law because I have been fortunate to become the first in my extended family to earn a bachelor's degree in the US. I wish to use this opportunity to help others pursue a better life through my acquired knowledge and experience. I have long held the desire to dedicate my life to a service-driven vocation. Given the disproportionate under-representation of Hispanic and Latino communities in the legal industry, I hope to become the voice of change for those who have systematically been at a disadvantage within the US legal system. Even though my journey to the US is in no way comparable to the life- threatening experience of thousands of immigrants, I can empathize with the overwhelming feeling of confusion and fear that comes from moving to a foreign place in search of a better life. After completing my first semester in law school I realized there are a myriad of ways to contribute my grain of sand in the making of a more equal, diverse, and just society. Although I am still passionate in pursuing a career in immigration law, I also wish to gain more experience in criminal defense, and indigent defense system. In my short time in law school, I’ve come to realize that to build a more just society people need to learn compassion, kindness, and humility. As a law student I see these issues every day in my classroom, and I worry this is what we will contribute a few years from now once we enter the legal work force. Lawyers need to understand that it is not about the wins and the loses, or the high billable hours, it is about giving back to our community and helping people navigate the legal system so that justice prevails. It does not matter on which side of the court you are standing, for the plaintiff or defendant, for the state or for a civilian, at the end of the day we should all work towards the exact same objective and that is the betterment of society. All of society, not just the rich, not just the white, but everyone that encompasses our society because we are all entitled to equal protection and representation.

I was born and raised in Nuevo Laredo, a border city in northern Mexico. Throughout the early 2000s, organized crime in Mexico increased as drug cartels and corrupt government officials took over my country. Both my parents' extended families immigrated to the US, hoping to escape the wave of violence that overtook Nuevo Laredo. My parents, however, stayed. I am thankful to have grown up in Mexico because the experience forged me into the resilient person I am today. I must admit that I lived in naive ignorance before coming to the US. Lying flat on my stomach whenever I heard continuous shooting outside and getting home before sunset to avoid encounters with drug cartels felt normal to me. Living in Mexico, one becomes increasingly desensitized to violence and injustice as we learn to accept the cruel reality dictated by organized crime and drug cartels. In my short year living in the US, I learned more than just English. For the first time in my short life, I experienced freedom, peace, and safety. I became determined to return to the US to pursue an education and a future career in a field that would allow me to maintain peace and justice in my community. I aspire to practice law because I have been fortunate to become the first in my extended family to earn a bachelor's degree in the US. I wish to use this opportunity to help others pursue a better life through my acquired knowledge and experience. I have long held the desire to dedicate my life to a service-driven vocation. Given the disproportionate under-representation of Hispanic and Latino communities in the legal industry, I hope to become the voice of change for those who have systematically been at a disadvantage within the US legal system. Even though my journey to the US is in no way comparable to the life-threatening experience of thousands of immigrants, I can empathize with the overwhelming feeling of confusion and fear that comes from moving to a foreign place in search of a better life. After completing my first semester in law school I realized there is a myriad of ways to contribute my grain of sand in the making of a more equal, diverse, and just society. Although I am still passionate about pursuing a career in immigration law, I also wish to gain more experience in criminal defense and the indigent defense system.

During the first weeks of my 1L year, I felt like an imposter. I was used to being in predominantly Hispanic environments, or places where it was easy to find a community. Moving to Oklahoma was a bigger challenge than I was expecting. Not only did I feel like an imposter, but I was reminded by my classmates on one occasion when someone pointed out that this year the 1L class was much bigger than in previous years, to which someone else made a comment saying how that was the result of affirmative action and the reason why there were much more BIPOC students in the class. I am one of 5 Hispanic and Latino students in the 2024 class, and one of approximately 25 BICOP students in the whole class of 2024. Yet, some classmates thought that that was unfair and that because of affirmative action there were “too many of [us].” I joined LaLSA and BLSA shortly after and although they are both small organizations in our school given the significantly small number of Hispanic/Latino & Black student population, both chapters have a strong presence in the OU Law Community. As part of both organizations, we have a pre-law initiative, where we host events to talk to undergrads from diverse backgrounds and part of minority communities to encourage them to pursue a law career. Representation is vital. Although there are a few of us right now in law school, we need to continue to grow our presence in the legal field. That is how change starts, by taking up space. We are hoping to expand our pre-law initiative this upcoming semester to include high school students because it is never too early to motivate younger generations and to show them that it is possible. Most of us who are now in law school are first generations students, not just in law school, but in college as well, and we never thought that one day we would be pursuing a law degree if it weren’t for someone else showing us that it was possible. During those first weeks of law school, before I met my BLSA and LaLSA families, I constantly wondered if I had made the right decision, and even considered quitting. It wasn’t after I found my community and, in those spaces, where I felt celebrated and not just tolerated that I was reminded of why I came to law school in the first place, to make a difference in my community and represent those who have been systematically oppressed and neglected by the government. I survived my 1L semester thanks to the unconditional support and uplifting from my BLSA and LaLSA families, and now as a 2L I hope to be a great mentor to upcoming 1Ls and continue working with my law school’s Office of Student Engagement to continue recruiting more diverse students so that one day hopefully in the very near future BIPOC students aren’t a small percentage of the student body population, but have an equal presence and representation as to their white counterparts.

I was born and raised in Nuevo Laredo, a border city in northern Mexico. Throughout the early 2000s, organized crime in Mexico increased as drug cartels and corrupt government officials took over my country. Both my parents' extended families immigrated to the US, hoping to escape the wave of violence that overtook Nuevo Laredo. My parents, however, stayed. I am thankful to have grown up in Mexico because the experience forged me into the resilient person I am today. I must admit that I lived in naive ignorance before coming to the US. Lying flat on my stomach whenever I heard continuous shooting outside and getting home before sunset to avoid encounters with drug cartels felt normal to me. Living in Mexico, one becomes increasingly desensitized to violence and injustice as we learn to accept the cruel reality dictated by organized crime and drug cartels. In my short year living in the US, I learned more than just English. After all, there is a reason that we call the US the land of the free. For the first time in my short life, I experienced freedom, peace, and safety. I became determined to return to the US to pursue an education and a future career in a field that would allow me to maintain peace and justice in my community. I aspire to practice law because I have been fortunate to become the first in my extended family to earn a bachelor's degree in the US. I wish to use this opportunity to help others pursue a better life through my acquired knowledge and experience. I have long held the desire to dedicate my life to a service-driven vocation. Given the disproportionate under-representation of Hispanic and Latino communities in the legal industry, I hope to become the voice of change for those who have systematically been at a disadvantage within the US legal system. Even though my journey to the US is in no way comparable to the life-threatening experience of thousands of immigrants, I can empathize with the overwhelming feeling of confusion and fear that comes from moving to a foreign place in search of a better life. After completing my first semester in law school I realized there is a myriad of ways to contribute my grain of sand in the making of a more equal, diverse, and just society. Although I am still passionate about pursuing a career in immigration law, I also wish to gain more experience in criminal defense and indigent defense systems. In my short time in law school, I’ve come to realize that to build a more just society people need to learn compassion, kindness, and humility. As a law student, I see these issues every day in my classroom, and I worry this is what we will contribute a few years from now once we enter the legal workforce. Lawyers need to understand that it is not about the wins and the loses, or the high billable hours, it is about giving back to our community and helping people navigate the legal system so that justice prevails. It does not matter on which side of the court you are standing, for the plaintiff or defendant, for the state or for a civilian, at the end of the day we should all work towards the exact same objective and that is the betterment of society. All of society, not just the rich, not just the white, but everyone that encompasses our society because we are all entitled to equal protection and representation.