By Stefanie Arjona, Fellow Class of 2016
University of Denver
Throughout my entire academic life, my family has served as a huge motivation to keep moving forward. I come from a family from which both of my parents did not receive a high school diploma, let alone obtain a college education. For my siblings and I, college was never an option; rather, college was a must, yet it seemed so far away until last fall. Last fall, my family and I embarked on the daunting journey that is navigating college for the first time. Even though my family is aware that I want to pursue law school, they did not have the clearest idea of what that entailed, and to be honest, neither did I. Through Law School...Sí Se Puede, my family and I have obtained a better understanding of my aspirations, enabling my family to be more supportive than ever before.
Back in August, my father accompanied me to the Law School...Sí Se Puede Kick-Off event during which Judge Arguello and former Lt. Governor, Joe Garcia, told their stories regarding their road to success. I was truly amazed at the number of people who attended the Kick-Off event since they were all there in support of myself and the rest of the 2016 Fellows. Afterward, my father expressed how overwhelmed he was by the enormous amount of encouragement that everyone exhibited at the event. He could not believe that so many others were more than willing to demonstrate their solidarity to helping young people, like me, achieve their dreams of becoming a lawyer. He was eager to find out when the next LSSSP meeting was in order to continue gaining insight into the law profession.
As my first year of college has progressed, my family has done everything in their power to avoid that I miss any LSSSP workshop or any meeting with my mentors. With the workshops, I have taught my family about the importance of networking, knowing my learning style and personality type, and applying for internships. Most recently, my family met with my mentors for the first time. After hearing some law school memories of my mentors, my family has gained a better sense of some of the challenges I might endure in law school. This meeting also made them more excited for me to become a lawyer because they are confident that I have knowledgeable people supporting me every step of the way in the same manner that they wish to support me with my career.
My involvement in Law School...Sí Se Puede has allowed for my family to better understand my dream of attending law school. My family and I recognize that getting to law school will not be an easy task, and we are not quite entirely sure of everything I need to do to get there. However, my family is absolutely sure that this program was the best choice I could have made in order to prepare me in a way that they cannot.
