The failures of the legal system have intimately affected me since I was young. When I was in elementary school, my sisters and I were yelling back and forth about who would get to sleep in the laundry basket one night, but having the flu gave me priority. Our uncle had been evicted from that apartment, but we still knew how to maneuver the windows open when the bus dropped us off there. A few days had passed since we last saw our mom. We managed to get by despite having no water or electricity. On the fourth day, a family friend stopped by to inform us that our mother was in jail again. Knowing the drill, we proceeded to pack up our clothes and move for the thirteenth time that year. My mother’s severe struggles with drug addiction, alcoholism, and mental illness forced me to become the responsible one in the family at just eight years old. I was the caretaker not just for my sisters but for everyone around me.

As I continued to move around as a child, facing homelessness, poverty, and instability, I slowly realized that the issues my family faced were legal ones. Local law enforcement routinely raided our residences without warrants, and judges would sentence my mother to jail for trivial infractions anywhere from eight to fifteen times a year, seemingly unconcerned about me and her other children at home. My father struggled to pay his probation fees following a DUI conviction, perpetuating a cycle of recidivism. Meanwhile, my seventeen-year-old sister fell in with the wrong crowd and was placed in juvenile detention. As a high school student, while my peers went to the movies together or orchestra rehearsals, I found myself regularly visiting my incarcerated relatives, using what little money I had to help fill their commissary or pay their bonds.

Living with the consequences of the criminal legal system, I wondered whether poverty had brought about legal burdens for others like me. My interest in criminal law led me to a summer internship at Houston ReVision, a nonprofit aiming to break the cycle of isolation among youth who are caught up in the juvenile justice system. Although I experienced the criminal justice system differently in my own youth, my background allowed me to connect with them on an individual mentorship level. Realizing that my background can be an asset to underprivileged communities further ignited my desire to advocate for change in the criminal justice system. My interest in the law broadened the following summer when I discovered similar inequities associated with the civil justice system as an intern at the D.C. Bar Foundation. My first assignment was to research and explain to others the eligibility requirements and services provided by civil legal aid. Having this knowledge at my fingertips thrilled me because, for the first time, I could help people throughout my community and not just my family. I wanted to use what I had learned to make a real impact, just as lawyers harness the power of knowledge to advocate for and support those who need it most. At the same time, I was troubled by how few people in need of these services, including my own family, were aware they even existed.

My family has been unlawfully evicted, subjected to unsafe living conditions, and harassed by corrupt landlords without any legal assistance. We did not have the money, knowledge, or network to access the help we needed. Without civil legal aid services, my loved ones ended up in the throes of the criminal justice system, in and out of custody for years on end.

Seeing and living the interconnectedness of the civil and criminal justice systems has motivated me to pursue law to create meaningful change for those in need. The justice system failed that young girl sleeping in a laundry basket. This failure fueled my passion for expanding access to justice for people like her. I believe the best way to achieve this is through the legal system. I aspire to shape a justice system that supports, rather than punishes, those battling addiction. One that uplifts, rather than denigrates, those in poverty. One that ensures the safety, health, and well-being of all individuals. I see myself doing this immediately upon graduation from law school by serving as a public defender, representing people like my parents. And one day, I aspire most to open a wraparound legal services clinic in my community to provide basic necessities and free legal assistance to those in need.