One of the major issues facing the criminal justice system today is the extreme case load that is dumped onto public defense attorneys. So many cases are piled onto them, that they rarely have enough time to properly look over the case and create a defense for their client, which pushes them into a corner where they have to encourage the defendant to accept the plea deal. This leads to overcrowding in prisons, since many people are forced to serve time even if they were innocent, because taking the plea deal was a better alternative to having their defense attorney be unprepared to defend them. This is just one of the many areas where the criminal justice system falls short of truly delivering justice in a fair and equal way. As of right now, I am pursuing my undergraduate degree in Law, Societies, and Justice at the University of Washington. I have the privilege to take classes from extremely well qualified professors, who have served as public defense attorneys, and who often invite local public defenders and advocacy groups into the classroom to talk with us. After earning my bachelor's degree, I plan to attend law school in the hopes of becoming a public defense attorney for criminal cases. I want to help the community and contribute to the betterment of society through my work, hence why I want to represent defendants who do not have the means to pay for a lawyer themselves. I believe that everyone has the right to be defended well before a court of law, and by joining this field of work, I can hopefully ease the burden of having far too many cases to properly apply myself to each one. I am also interested in a career in immigration law because the system currently in place punishes people for achieving "legal status" the "correct" way, since it can take years to be properly processed and receive citizenship. This summer, I also had the opportunity to intern for Death Penalty Alternatives Arizona, a statewide grassroots organization that's working to educate the public on issues related to the death penalty and the inequities of the criminal justice system, specifically in Arizona where the death penalty is still used as capital punishment. During this internship I have had the opportunity to look through all of the cases of those who are currently on Arizona Death Row, and I have specifically been working on the Felony Murder Project, so I was tasked with identifying all of the inmates who were convicted of felony murder. I gained a very deep understanding of the felony murder rule and how it is applied in many different situations in order for a prosecutor to secure a first degree murder conviction by solely proving intent to commit the predicate felony rather than the murder. Many inequities stem from this role, and this is another issue which I hope to make a change in during the rest of my education and career. Though many people may question why I am choosing to become a public defender when it is no secret that they are overworked and underpaid, I have always wanted to make a change in the world, and criminal justice is a specific area where I see change to be very necessary. I want to help people, and make the system as fair and equal as I possibly can, because the criminal justice system has roots in economic inequality and racial bias, and as long as these factors still effect the system, it can never be truly fair and just.

Ever since I can remember, my mom has always told me that "helping people is the most important thing that you can ever do". Not only has my mom lived by this motto, as she is willing to drop anything she is doing to help others, but she has also instilled this message into me. This is why giving back to my community has played a large part in my life, as well as in my connection with those around me, such as with my mom. Growing up, I have volunteered at many different organizations during my free time. Throughout Middle School and Highschool, I regularly volunteered with Feed My Starving Children, a non-profit organization that has volunteers pack food bags that are then sent to feed malnourished children around the world. These experiences not only helped me form connections with my community, but it also helped me realize how passionate I am about helping people. I also volunteered at the non-profit organization Matthew House, which helps incoming refugees from the Middle East find homes, sets up their homes, helps them settle in, and then offers tutoring programs so that the children can be prepared for school here in America, and the parents can learn English find jobs. I helped set up one of these homes for an incoming family, and the experience helped open my eyes to how people with different backgrounds live, and the struggles that they have faced in their lives. I also donated many books, children's toys, and Lego sets to Matthew House, which they were able to provide to the families and enrich the children's learning experiences. It was also during High School that I helped take stats for my Varsity Women's Soccer team. I played and was one of the captains for this team, yet outside of practices I took the time to rewatch game footage and record goals, assists, saves, and steals for the players. This helped my team be recognized for our performances and earn awards like All-Region Team Players. This volunteering brought me closer to my teammates and helped me acknowledge how beneficial this work was for the team. It is because of these volunteer experiences that I found my true passion, helping people. As of right now, I hope to pursue a career in Law after earning my undergraduate degree and attending Law School. I intend to focus on either immigration or criminal law because these are two areas where racial bias and socioeconomic status heavily effect rulings. I have always wanted to instill my advocacy and passion for helping people into my job, as it is through law that I have found an avenue to do so. I wouldn't be where I am nor the person I am with my family, my community, or my education that I have been lucky to receive, and I plan to change the world for the better with it all.

One of the major issues facing the criminal justice system today is the extreme case load that is dumped onto public defense attorneys. So many cases are piled onto them, that they rarely have enough time to properly look over the case and create a defense for their client, which pushes them into a corner where they have to encourage the defendant to accept the plea deal. This leads to overcrowding in prisons, since many people are forced to serve time even if they were innocent, because taking the plea deal was a better alternative to having their defense attorney be unprepared to defend them. This is just one of the many areas where the criminal justice system falls short of truly delivering justice in a fair and equal way. As of right now, I am pursuing my undergraduate degree in Law, Societies, and Justice at the University of Washington. I have the privilege to take classes from extremely well qualified professors, who have served as public defense attorneys, and who often invite local public defenders and advocacy groups into the classroom to talk with us. After earning my bachelor's degree, I plan to attend law school in the hopes of becoming a public defense attorney for criminal cases. I want to help the community and contribute to the betterment of society through my work, hence why I want to represent defendants who do not have the means to pay for a lawyer themselves. I believe that everyone has the right to be defended well before a court of law, and by joining this field of work, I can hopefully ease the burden of having far too many cases to properly apply myself to each one. I am also interested in a career in immigration law because the system currently in place punishes people for achieving "legal status" the "correct" way, since it can take years to be properly processed and receive citizenship. This summer, I also had the opportunity to intern for Death Penalty Alternatives Arizona, a statewide grassroots organization that's working to educate the public on issues related to the death penalty and the inequities of the criminal justice system, specifically in Arizona where the death penalty is still used as capital punishment. During this internship I have had the opportunity to look through all of the cases of those who are currently on Arizona Death Row, and I have specifically been working on the Felony Murder Project, so I was tasked with identifying all of the inmates who were convicted of felony murder. I gained a very deep understanding of the felony murder rule and how it is applied in many different situations in order for a prosecutor to secure a first degree murder conviction by solely proving intent to commit the predicate felony rather than the murder. Many inequities stem from this role, and this is another issue which I hope to make a change in during the rest of my education and career. Though many people may question why I am choosing to become a public defender when it is no secret that they are overworked and underpaid, I have always wanted to make a change in the world, and criminal justice is a specific area where I see change to be very necessary. I want to help people, and make the system as fair and equal as I possibly can, because the criminal justice system has roots in economic inequality and racial bias, and as long as these factors still effect the system, it can never be truly fair and just.

Having grown up in Arizona, which has some of the highest incarceration rates in the country, and some of the most anti-immigrant legislation, I am extremely passionate about reforming the incarceration system and fighting for immigrants' rights. Our incarceration system is deeply flawed and heavily discriminates against people of color, which is something that I want to focus on and change. This country was also founded by immigrants, yet immigrants, especially those who are undocumented and people of color, are demonized and criminalized by our federal and state governments, all while the immigration process is incredibly long and tedious, making it very hard for many immigrants to do so "legally". Immigration lawyers are in high demand since it is a lack thereof that has overloaded the system and has backed it up, so pursuing a career in that field is also an option of mine. Due my passions and interests, I am currently seeking to earn my undergraduate degree in Law, Societies, and Justice from the University of Washington. I then hope to attend Law School in order to become a lawyer, and specialize as either a Civil Rights Attorney, or as an Immigration Lawyer. I want to provide a better future for so many people, and although this seems like such a daunting task, I know that I must start somewhere. I am working to make a positive impact on the world by using the law to guarantee better rights and treatment for marginalized and oppressed groups. Although the law is to blame for many systemic inequalities that have, and still do exist to this day, it is also a way to provide a better future for those who come after us, since effective legal change is a way that many civil rights movements, and other movements in general, have been successful. My advocacy has always been such a large part of my life, hence why I look to incorporate it into my future career. I am aware that my future will be tough, especially in the current political climate, but making a positive change has never been easy, and it never will be. I hope to ensure a better future for generations to come by battling systemic inequality with equity and by showing that compassion and empathy for other people is never a weakness, but rather a symbol of strength in a world that teaches us to only care about ourselves.

Ever since I can remember, my mom has always told me that "helping people is the most important thing that you can ever do". Not only has my mom lived by this motto, as she is willing to drop anything she is doing to help others, but she has also instilled this message into me. This is why giving back to my community has played a large part in my life, as well as in my connection with those around me, such as with my mom. Growing up, I have volunteered at many different organizations during my free time. Throughout Middle School and Highschool, I regularly volunteered with Feed My Starving Children, a non-profit organization that has volunteers pack food bags that are then sent to feed malnourished children around the world. These experiences not only helped me form connections with my community, but it also helped me realize how passionate I am about helping people. I also volunteered at the non-profit organization Matthew House, which helps incoming refugees from the Middle East find homes, sets up their homes, helps them settle in, and then offers tutoring programs so that the children can be prepared for school here in America, and the parents can learn English find jobs. I helped set up one of these homes for an incoming family, and the experience helped open my eyes to how people with different backgrounds live, and the struggles that they have faced in their lives. I also donated many books, children's toys, and Lego sets to Matthew House, which they were able to provide to the families and enrich the children's learning experiences. It was also during High School that I helped take stats for my Varsity Women's Soccer team. I played and was one of the captains for this team, yet outside of practices I took the time to rewatch game footage and record goals, assists, saves, and steals for the players. This helped my team be recognized for our performances and earn awards like All-Region Team Players. This volunteering brought me closer to my teammates and helped me acknowledge how beneficial this work was for the team. It is because of these volunteer experiences that I found my true passion, helping people. As of right now, I hope to pursue a career in Law after earning my undergraduate degree and attending Law School. I want to pursue law because it is a way to help those in need and ensure justice in our country, and I wouldn't have found this path without my volunteer experience and the values that my mom instilled in me since I was a child.

As a child, my dream job constantly changed. One day I wanted to be an actress, the next a rockstar, and on occasion, even a princess. My future career never really took up a lot of space in my mind. I was more focused on making it through elementary school and hanging out with my friends. But as a I got older, the question became an increasingly pressing matter. What did I want to be when I grew up? When I entered my junior year of high school, I couldn't seem to escape this question. As I toured colleges before my senior year, and started applying to colleges, I couldn't seem to figure out what I wanted to do. It was hard enough to even figure out what major I wanted to pursue. Eventually I settled on History, but that didn't last long. I am now a little over half-way through my first year of college, and I've already changed my major. I've explored different majors by taking a variety of classes, and I have finally found one that I am passionate about, and want to find a career in. When I took the class Intro to Law, Societies, and Justice, it all suddenly clicked into place. How had I never realized that I enjoyed the mock-trials that we would do in High School? How had I never pieced together the idea that I could combine my passion for social justice with law and pursue a career as a lawyer? My career path, as of right now, is to first earn my undergraduate degree in Law, Societies, and Justice, then attend Law School, and then specialize as either a Civil Rights Attorney or as an Immigration Lawyer. Of course, I am open to the possibility that this all might change over the course of the next few years, because college is a time of change and exploration, so there is a chance that I might find another career path that interests me even more. All in all, my career path has changed drastically since I was a child. Though I was never bound to be an actress, rockstar, or even a princess, it is still entertaining to see how much I have changed over the years. I am now excited for my future and the possibilities that it will bring, because I am passionate about my career path, and hope to bring about impactful and positive change for underrepresented and marginalized communities.

I have always been passionate about reforming the incarceration system in America and fighting for immigrants' rights, and this is due in large part because I grew up in Arizona. Arizona has one of the highest incarceration rates in the United States and also has some of the most anti-immigrant policies. Having grown up in communities that supported such institutions, I became increasingly aware of how harmful they were to communities of color, since they are targeted more than anyone else by the incarceration system and immigration policy. Due to these experiences, I decided to attend college out of state at the University of Washington. I am currently a first-year student, and after exploring many different major options, I have decided to earn my undergraduate degree in Law, Societies, and Justice. This major teaches students to analyze the meaning of justice, the methods used in efforts to obtain it, the politics of rights, and the complex roles that law and legal institutions play in structuring our social lives. After earning my degree, I then hope to attend law school, and eventually specialize as either a Civil Rights Attorney, or as an Immigration Lawyer. So far, I have been successful on my academic journey. Coming out of High School, I had achieved a weighted GPA of 4.7 and an unweighted GPA of 3.98. I therefore was named Salutatorian of my graduating class. I was also a member of the National Honors Society, and all of these achievements helped me get accepted into the University of Washington, as well as earn the Purple and Gold Scholarship, which they offer to high achieving out-of-state students. Due to all of the AP classes that I took in High School, I earned a total of 45 credits, which allowed me to enter into college as a sophomore, rather than a freshman. As of right now, I just finished my second quarter of college, and I have maintained a 4.0 GPA. In the upcoming fall, I will apply for my major, which is capacity constrained, and hopefully get in. I am pursuing a career in law because I see it as a way to enact positive change for people not only within Arizona, or within the United States, but also for people around the world. While the law has in many cases been used to limit peoples' rights and opportunities, it is also a way to bring about justice and help people, which is exactly what I want to do.

“‘Everything I have done has been to bring about the death of King Siggeir my husband, and now I have done so much to accomplish my vengeance that I cannot choose to live. I ought to die now with King Siggeir by choice, as I lived with him by force.’ Then she kissed her brother Sigmund and Sinfjotli and she went back into the fire and wished them farewell. There she died with King Siggeir and all Siggeir’s followers.” (The Saga of the Volsungs, Ch. 8, page 14) Throughout Viking sagas, the place that women occupied in Icelandic society can be assessed by their roles and actions in such stories. Though Viking women enjoyed more freedom and power compared to other women during this time, they were still largely resigned to the domestic sphere and had no say in their own marriages. This led to many women, including Signy, the only daughter of King Volsung from the Saga of the Volsungs, being forced into marriages that they did not consent to, and even openly resisted. Upon first meeting her soon to be husband, King Siggeir of Gautland, Signy had already sensed what a traitorous man he was. This was in great thanks to her second sight, a supernatural ability which she inherited from her ancestor Odin, that allowed her to see beyond the ordinary, and even into the future. But even after sharing this insight with her father, he still would not listen, and solidified the marriage against her will. And to everyone’s surprise but Signy’s, Siggeir eventually killed her entire family except for her twin brother Sigmund, though this was only thanks to Signy’s quick thinking and deception. During the years spent living with a man who had killed so many of her loved ones, Signy made countless sacrifices and hard decisions in order to enact her revenge. But when she and her twin brother finally killed King Siggeir, burning him and his men to death in his own home, Signy made an unusual decision: she chose to die alongside her husband, even though she had despised him since the beginning. On first inspection, her death seems incredibly unnecessary. Choosing to die alongside the man whom you had planned the death of for years is a hard idea to wrap one's mind around. Many people who have read this saga have analyzed Signy’s death to be a show of loyalty to the family that she had created with Siggier. But after further examination, this stance is arguably incorrect, as it is clear that the reason for this choice was not blind devotion or some kind of twisted love; it was to show how her life had never actually been hers to control. When Signy said “‘I ought to die now with King Siggeir by choice, as I lived with him by force,’” we can see that she is choosing this fate not because she feels a sense of loyalty towards her husband, but because for so long she has been tied to this man against her will, and unfortunately even with him dead she still would not be able to untangle her future from his. When given the chance to finally make a decision solely for herself, putting into practice her newfound autonomy, Signy chooses to follow Siggeir into death to symbolize the injustice that she faced in her life. Throughout this passage, Signy’s use of certain words also alludes to the fact that she might regret some of the things she did in order to enact her revenge. When she talks about “everything” that she had to do in order to kill Siggier, she may be referring to when she had Sigmund kill her sons who showed signs of “weakness”, or when she slept with her own brother in order to create a son of “pure Volsung blood”. Though in those moments she showed no remorse for her actions and executed them with brutal efficiency, the use of the word “everything” and her overall somber tone gives the appearance that she might now regret her previous actions, especially since they were quite vile. This acceptance of her past actions may have influenced her decision to walk into that burning throne room, since she may have been plagued by guilt, and feel as if she must atone, even if she did not outwardly show it. It is also worth noting that since Signy had the ability to peer into the future, she undoubtedly saw that her story did not continue on past those moments and knew that her time had come. Within Viking sagas, fate and destiny are inescapable, playing an essential role in the lives of these characters, and this was no different for the Volsungs. The main theme of this family’s saga was that their lineage will always live on. Even when their enemies thought that they had finally brought an end to the Volsung line, one of them would find a way to survive and continue their story. Since Signy knew Sinfjotli, her son, and her brother Sigmund would carry on the family name, she may have seen this as an opportunity to finally rest and let the next generation take control. Though Signy may not be the main focus of The Saga of the Volsungs, she is still an incredibly complex character whose devotion to her family led to the continuation of their bloodline. This passage not only shows her willingness to devote her life to her family or the pain that she has suffered, but also her acceptance that even after gaining autonomy, she still will never be able to get back all of the years she spent without it. With her newfound freedom, she decides to die alongside the man who she wanted dead for so many years because she will never be free of what he did to her, or of what she had to do in order to avenge her family.

In my life, I hope to contribute to building a better world. There are so many aspects of our society that still negatively impact people to this day, and I hope to make a positive change, because I have always recognized that helping people is my life goal. Having grown up in Arizona, which has some of the highest incarceration rates in the country, and some of the most anti-immigrant legislation, I am extremely passionate about reforming the incarceration system and fighting for immigrants' rights. Our incarceration system is deeply flawed and heavily discriminates against people of color, and I want to help fix this. This country was also founded by immigrants, yet immigrants of color are demonized and criminalized by our federal and state governments. Due to these passions, I am currently seeking to earn my undergraduate degree in Law, Societies, and Justice from the University of Washington. I then hope to attend Law School in order to become a lawyer, and specialize as either a Civil Rights Attorney, or as an Immigration Lawyer. I want to provide a better future for so many people, and although this seems like such a daunting task, I know that I must start somewhere. My advocacy has been such a large part of my life, hence why I look to incorporate it into my future career. I am aware that my future may be tough, especially in the current political climate, but making a positive change has never been easy, and it probably never will be. I hope to ensure a better future for generations to come by battling systemic inequality with equity and by showing that compassion and empathy for other people is never a weakness, but rather a symbol of strength in a world that teaches us to only care about ourselves.