Tell us about your community growing up. Looking back, how did it shape who you are now?

I had the great fortune of growing up in Passaic, New Jersey. I say I am fortunate because in those three-and-a-quarter square miles, there are nearly 100,000 residents that represent diversity across so many lines of identity. The racial, ethnic, religious, citizenship status, and socioeconomic diversity of this immigrant community has deeply shaped who I am. Seeing so many people around me using hard work and ingenuity to get through hardship shapes both my grit and my problem-solving. Moreover, it has created my driving force in life: doing whatever I can to ensure that America is as just and fair to those that have been historically disadvantaged as it is to the privileged.

Describe your journey to law school. What motivated you to enroll?

My professional career started as a teacher in my hometown. I believed in the power of education and wanted to change the trajectory of my students’ lives as my teachers had done for me. Instead, I found system after system that inhibited my ability to do my job well. After a couple of years training teachers at the college and graduate school level, I repeatedly found that they had the same complaints and felt like my impact was not large enough. That frustration, coupled with seeing how the criminal justice system disastrously finished the school-to-prison pipeline, led me to enroll in law and policy school, hoping to undo those systems.

What did you most enjoy in law school?

I most enjoyed my seminars and externships in law school, two of which were particularly noteworthy. First, externing with the Honorable Laura Taylor Swain of the Southern District of New York gave me a deep appreciation for the job that judges and judicial clerks do daily. Secondly, I loved being a part of the Academic Scholars Program, which provides mentorship and insight into academia for students with a potential to become law professors. It deeply shaped my thinking about the writing that professors do and allowed me to engage more deeply and thoughtfully with my Note, which will be published in the Minnesota Journal of Law and Inequality.

How did appellate work first get on your radar? What draws you to it?

What first brought appellate work onto my radar was Columbia’s Asylum and Refugee Law National Moot Court. Until I joined the team, I felt out of place in law school, unsure that it would improve my advocacy. The Moot Court team instantly changed that. I quickly fell in love with the oral advocacy and writing processes. Getting to work at the ACLU of New Jersey and NAACP Legal Defense Fund on appellate matters concretized and deepened that passion by situating appellate advocacy in long-term strategic planning.

Why do you personally think it’s important to have diversity in the appellate field?

We must recognize that America is a nation born full of injustice, with several institutions continuing that inequity. Diversity in the appellate field helps ensure that decisionmakers have a better understanding of how their choices will impact several parts of society. Beyond that, our country is becoming increasingly polarized as we face existential crises as a country and world. To me, that means that, more than ever before, we need not just incredible intellect but creative problem solving to push our law and policy further. Having people from different backgrounds collaborating is a great way to achieve that creativity, innovation, and efficiency.

What advice would you give to a future law student who aspires to be where you are now?

My advice for future law students is three-fold. First of all, go into law school without overly committing to your conception of the kind of lawyer you want to be. As a first-generation college student, there were myriad things about the law that I did not know about; having an open mind has been extremely helpful to me finding my passion. Second, so much of this profession revolves around being safe and following specific ways of acting, looking, writing; feel free to push against that. It will make the experience more authentic, and you'll be glad to be "your" kind of lawyer in time. Third, there is nothing wrong with striving to do more than any of your ancestors did. If you have that inclination, lean into it!

What’s one thing law schools and/or the appellate bar can do to ensure our highest courts are representative of all our communities?

Law schools and the appellate bar should be doing a better job of explaining exactly what being an appellate lawyer is and what steps one must take to reach that distinction. Much knowledge about best positioning yourself to join the appellate bar is a well-kept secret passed on to those deemed worthy: a form of gatekeeping. Additionally, I think it is important for law school faculty and appellate lawyers to meaningfully question what influences their conception of how an appellate lawyer looks and acts, as well as who is “deserving” of the opportunity.