Why I Was A Lawyer

I have privileges unfathomable to family back in Mexico, and my mother warned me against taking these privilege for granted. Being born in America did not make me American, she told me, being First Generation American would present seemingly unbearable challenges. She offered advice that I followed to the letter until our first name was not the only thing we shared, until the voice inside my head was replaced with my mother’s.

I am a U.S. born citizen. My parents moved to the United States in 1984 without knowing anything about this country. Looking for a fresh start and new opportunities, my parents settled in Houston. With hardly knowing any English, my parents knew this was the place to make dreams become a reality. Luckily, I had older siblings to look up to whenever I needed help. Like Lahiri, I was trapped in between two different cultures while I was growing up. At home, I only spoke Spanish, but in school it was English. My habits and customs were different than others. Life as an immigrant’s offspring can be very difficult. As I grew older, I allowed myself to open my eyes and see the beauty of being an American from Hispanic descent.

Being a Hispanic can have its ups and downs. In today's modern society, there are many racial terms that are put against Hispanics. Examples of these can stretch from calling someone an illegal immigrant to making jokes that we Hispanics ‘all eat tacos’. I don’t know if racism will ever end, but I do know many people are being affected by it. So, what being a Hispanic means for me is to show the world that we are not all this stereotypical drug lord, or murderer. My parents were indeed illegal immigrants at one point. They through many difficult battles to get into this country in hopes of a better life. I want to build on from that, and show how a family from one generation to another can become the next CEO of NASA or President of the United

Being a latino in the U.S had been and still is the reason for suffering discrimination against one's aspirations and goals in life. Not only that but as an ESL life was far from being the American Dream most people come to this country looking for. The truth is that for those that had not escape from the category of ESL, prejudice will be a stigma that would follow them through high school and life. From these tumultuous waters I rose. Expectations were low and many assume that I was either stupid or incapable to compete with my classmates. My attitude and determination were the floating devices for my sicking life.

Your family had big dreams. You were so small when you came to the US, just 6 years old. So innocent. Coming from Mexico City, its drastically different. You had no clue what was ahead of you. School was most difficult, you spent 3 years in an English learning class. Even after, many things seemed hard for you to comprehend. Yet, you stayed strong. When you got to high school things changed, all that work had paid off. From then on you only took honors and ap classes. You were president of National

After arriving in the United States, things weren’t as wonderful as we had planned for. Coming to such a unique place in the world was a blessing, but it brought many obstacles to me and my family. It was truly one of the greatest obstacles I had to face learning a new language and getting used to the American life. Getting placed into the ELL program made me feel like I had to work harder than everyone else just to get simple things done. I was made fun of due to the lack of my abilities in speaking English. This only pushed me to work harder and become the best that I can be in everything I do. One thing that stayed the same was the level of support my family members here in the U.S. were able to provide me with to help me get through the

Time passed and I still hated Mexico. I complained every day, I wanted to go back to the place I loved, but a knife cuts both ways with a loose definition of origin, it’s effortless to feel as if you don’t belong anywhere. I started to see the bright sides of moving to Mexico, such as having my entire family with me and having more time to learn about the country I was born from and obtain pride within it. However, Mexico was not my country, it was always busy with people shouting and the school was not helping either. The school was far from accepting, everyone knew each other since kindergarten getting a new kid was like winning an exceedingly rare lottery. Everyone had a rough time adapting, but at the end, we all found our way, after all, intelligence is the ability to adapt. We stayed in Mexico for a year, this gave me enough time to fall in love with my country, I accepted the situation for exactly what it was instead of trying to manipulate it into what I believe it should be. However wonderful or substandard the situation was I would always find the solution. The traffic was unbearable, the city was too dangerous, my accent was confusing. I accepted these challenges so I could feel the acceleration of victory, I started to take the subway, never left the house alone and started to observe how everyone else spoke and copied their accent, even though hard work does not guarantee success, success cannot be achieved without hard work. We also gained a

In 2014 there were approximately 11.7 million Mexican immigrants in the United States according to the Migration Policy Institute (Zong). Everyday these people risk their lives, by coming here, in hopes for a better future for their children, unaware of what awaits crossing that border. These immigrants arrive wanting to escape their poverty stricken destiny, running away from “organized crime, drugs, corruption, a troubled economy,” (Pew Research Center) violence, oppression, job scarcity and many other reasons. With the idea that here they will thrive, unfortunately that is not the case. Once these immigrants arrive they face

My stepfather was an immigrant and I know the grueling process that my family had to endure for him to be able to legally stay in this country. There was a lot of time and money spent, time and money that many other immigrants don’t have. The entire process took about eight years and even took my stepfather away from my family for an entire year. My family’s struggle helps me open my heart to those in a similar situation because I strongly value compassion. The process of coming to this country, staying in this country, and becoming a citizen is an extremely long and expensive process. According to the Center for Immigration Studies the wait time for employment related visas can have no wait time at all or a wait time of almost eleven years. The wait times are even longer for family related visas with the wait time potentially being as long thirty-three years. Many of the people coming to this country seeking a better life, and I don’t feel like it is my place to say they don’t deserve to live in my

They want more for their children but they know that the “more” is hard to obtain. They are illegal immigrants that are looking for a better way of life. They wish to make a better living and wish for the need of not needing to work so hard each day. They wish for their children to have the education that will take them farther in life. Nevertheless, with the resigned situation of their life they at times feel as if there is no hope for the dreams to come true. These people know that the life that they are subjected to will not be changing any time soon as they travel from place to place in search of work.

Amongst the jeering and bullying of my peers, I learned to be resilient, independent, and disciplined about my life and my studies—qualities that helped me land a volunteer internship at one of Canada’s leading think-tanks on economic policy, a term on a faculty committee last school year, and the opportunity to serve on the Academic Board of UofT’s Governing Council this year. Most importantly, however, my experience as an immigrant at the bottom tier of society taught me to cherish how I got to where I am today, to never forget where I came from, and to always look back and see how I can help those that came from the very same place. And although I have grown a lot since those difficult times, the lessons that I learned along the way will remain with me forever. I hope to put them to good use with an education in law and leave my little patch of the world in a better condition than I first found it

My family and I migrated to the United States about eight years ago searching for our American Dream. As an eight-year-old I could not accept that this strange new world where people spoke a different language I didn't understand, where I didn't have to wear a school uniform, where I didn't attend an all girl school, and where not everybody was catholic was what I was supposed to call home. It was a gargantuan change that took a while to accept, but now that I am older I am so grateful and I know that I would go through everything again just to be where I am today, especially because I know an innumerable amount of undocumented students would give anything to be in my position.

The career I have chosen is to become a lawyer, in either a private practice or firm, or for the government. The definition of a lawyer is an advocate or advisor in society, that is as an advocate, to represent one of the opposing parties in a criminal or civil trial, and as an advisor to counsel clients as to their legal rights and suggest courses of action. But that is not all a lawyer is about. Being a lawyer takes hard work, dedication, and many years in school.

As the descendant of an immigrant father and his father before him, I’ve witnessed firsthand the means and consequences of trying to enter this country and become a citizen. The

The main reason why I wanted to study Law was the importance it takes in the world. Law builds civilization, protect fundamental rights and protect ideas and inventions through patenting. Anyone can defend his or her right through the legal system. Law can bind an agreement to allow an aircraft to fly from country A to country B. Law is continuously relevant in many context including banking, construction, sports, land, media, commerical, human rights etc. And this excites me more, as it is very broad and in my perspective not going to be repetitive or dull.