AnBryce Scholar
Tell us about your experience as an AnBryce Scholar. How has this scholarship shaped your law school experience or informed your career aspirations?
Being an AnBryce Scholar is unlike anything I have experienced. It’s the supportive community that I have always wanted to be a part of: peers that I relate greatly to on many levels, unmatched institutional support, and access to a large alumni community with a wealth of knowledge and wisdom. Through the AnBryce Summer Associate Program, I worked in the litigation practice group at Willkie, Farr & Gallagher LLP during my 1L summer and I will be returning to the firm next summer. I love spending time with my fellow AnBrycers because I feel welcomed and loved among them. In their company, much of how I feel as a first generation law student from a low income background doesn’t have to be voiced to be understood.
What are some of your hobbies and interests outside of the classroom?
Outside of law school, I love aimlessly walking around NYC, traveling, reading, and trying different workout classes. When time permits, I enjoy cooking Ethiopian food and communing with loved ones.
Tell us about your role as the community service co-chair for the Women of Color Collective (WoCC) and the Black Allied Law Students Association (BALSA).
WoCC and BALSA are communities that I am greatly blessed to belong to. I decided to serve as the community service co-chair for both student groups because I wanted to facilitate joint events between the two groups. My role allows me to create opportunities for our members to bond with each other while serving the greater New York City community. Recently my co-chair Yvonne Diabene and I hosted a care package assembly event where WoCC members socialized with each other while packaging self-care items for BronxWorks, an organization feeding, sheltering, teaching, and supporting New Yorkers in need. In BALSA, mentor pods made up of 1Ls, 2Ls, and 3Ls recently volunteered at a community kitchen under the leadership of our community service committee member, Romanda Dobson.
Any valuable lessons or takeaways from being a student leader?
I chose to serve on the board of WoCC, BALSA, and the Suspension Representation Project, an advocacy group that trains law students to represent public school students in superintendent’s suspension hearings and help safeguard their right to education, because I value each one’s contribution to the NYU Law community. As a 1L, I benefitted and learned from members of each group—and serving on these boards as a 2L has given me the chance to give back. I am also grateful for the chance to help grow these student groups. My first piece of advice is to make sure you join a board with a mission you align with and growth you’re passionate about because that’s what makes the time commitment worth it for me. My second and equally as important advice is to become friends with your board members and co-chairs. My friendship with my co-chairs has allowed me to share my ideas more freely and to lean on them when I need to devote time to my other responsibilities.
Posted on November 28, 2022