Advocating in the Most Southern Point of Texas by Samantha

Advocating in the Most Southern Point of Texas by Samantha - June 2020 Scholarship Essay

The people in my community have made me who I am today, and I hope to continue working towards giving communities, such as my own, the proper representation they deserve in the legal sector. Growing up in Brownsville, I have always felt it was necessary to give back through service and advocacy. My work in my community, along with my work representing students during my time at the U.S. Department of Education, gives me the drive to pursue social justice for underrepresented populations. Throughout my time in school, I have been able to realize how the skills I have gained in the Rio Grande Valley have helped me learn more about the legal sector, which I hope to enter.
As I began my time as an undergraduate, I began to notice how underrepresented my area was. The Rio Grande Valley is unique in many ways; however, people rarely heard of it, or they were just familiar with it because of the border. That is when I realized that receiving a law degree means I would have the capacity to advocate on behalf of underrepresented populations in the legal sector. Obtaining a legal education has given me some of the knowledge necessary to properly advocate for communities like mine. As a member of my own community, I worked to learn about the issues that affected this area first-hand to have an idea of the advocacy that has been occurring. I spoke to constituents daily during my time working with Senator Lucio which helped me learn about the day-to-day problems constituents of the district faced. Additionally, my time with Upward Bound Math and Science gave me the ability to work with students and learn about the importance of equitable education in my community. Overall, I’m dedicated to continuing to serve people, and that is the reason I decided to continue my schooling and focus on public interest work in the legal sector.
After I developed my advocacy at that point, I began an internship with Texas State Senator Eddie Lucio Jr. This experience was unlike any other; I had the extraordinary opportunity to advocate for groups within my community. For example, I took on a project that enabled me to advocate for detainees in my community who have diabetes. This allowed me to represent this population to the local, university, and school district police who were likely unaware of the detainees’ rights. Overall, this help me to realize my community has always been one of my priorities in my education. I appreciate the chances I’ve had to represent and assist my community as much as I can.
Being from this community, I had become accustomed to unique sights here which sparked my interest in human and civil rights. These unique sights included the abundant amount of border patrol trucks that passed by the streets of my city every day and unfamiliarity with the legal system in the United States. These unique sights led me to consider public interest work and contributing to the advocacy efforts in my community of the Rio Grande Valley. Throughout my time in school, I discovered that many of my peers are not familiar with the Valley or have never visited the area before. This has helped me to continue be vocal about my community, despite not physically being there.
The issues in the Rio Grande Valley issues are imperative, because they directly connect to advocacy needs, human rights, transborder relations, and ever-changing policies. The area changes frequently, so I want to help foster connections between students at my school and Valley natives, but also students and Valley organizations. Overall, these connections lead to a better understanding of what work is needed in the Valley. Moreover, the Rio Grande Valley is a prominent place to inform people about their legal rights in their own community. We come in constant contact with U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials. However, much of the time, we are not aware of what constitutes the difference between these officials and Immigration and Custom Enforcement officials. It is a changing area and for these reasons, the legal sector in the Valley and its work is consistently changing as well.
For these reasons, I hope to learn more about the community through my summer internship with the ACLU of Texas in Brownsville. I hope to be a liaison between the organizations I am a part of and the community that has helped me develop my advocacy skills. I would be grateful to receive this from Varsity Tutors, not only as someone who is a Brownsville native, but also someone who hopes to come back to my hometown and represent individuals in my community. I would be humbled and honored to serve those in my community who have helped me along my way to becoming an attorney, and I believe receiving this scholarship would help me alleviate the stresses that come with being a student at this time.