President, Student Bar Association
Tell us a little bit about your path to law school. Did you know you wanted to study law at a young age? And why NYU Law?
I came to the law relatively late! I was raised by a nurse and was surrounded by family working in other healthcare-related fields, so I became interested in the field early and began college at the University of Pennsylvania thinking I would become a doctor. Instead, I shifted to public health. I enjoyed thinking about and researching the health issues I had long been fascinated by through broader, more interdisciplinary lenses. Fast forward a few years, and I had used mixed methods research to shed light on challenges from access to utilities services in the Global South, to risky behavior among youth of color, and treatment design optimization for vulnerable patient populations. But while I enjoyed the work, I felt alienated from the larger-scale impact that attracted me to public health in the first place.
That’s when I made the pivot into health policy at a consulting shop in Washington, DC. Necessarily, that meant that I had to start again at the bottom, but I was inspired by the interdisciplinary nature of working to advance policy through Congress and my colleagues’ track record of passionate advocacy—and I gradually began to build a record of my own. It was there that I found my way to the law. I can’t pinpoint the exact moment it clicked, but I came wanting to become a better writer, to understand Chevron (rest in peace) and the constitutional doctrines that govern what Congress is able to do for Americans, and to ultimately become a more capable advocate for effective governance and policy.
My interest in public law made NYU Law an easy choice for me—and it doesn’t hurt that I’m closer to my large Jamaican American family in Brooklyn and New Jersey, and that I’m back in the best city in the world!
In addition to your studies and serving on Law Review, you’ve also taken on the mantle of Student Bar Association President. What drew you to take on that responsibility, and what is this experience teaching you?
NYU Law is known for being such a social and collegial academic environment, and that characterization absolutely held up during the first several weeks of my 1L year. But we lost that as a community for much of Fall 2023. NYU was a colder place—classroom discussions felt muted, conversations were hushed, a sense of communal trust had been broken—but I wanted to help rebuild that character we’re known for. It’s been important for me, and for the rest of the SBA Board, to encourage (and model!) inclusivity and collaboration in everything that we do from social events to how we communicate, and even how we evaluate funding applications!
When I have the time to sit back and reflect on it, I am learning an incredible amount from the role and from the incredible Board I work alongside. I’m certainly learning about the kind of leader I am in different settings—cheerleader, manager, delegator, “institutional” actor, executive decision maker—but the brass tacks of “governing” is where I’m learning the most. When the SBA issues a decision on an issue or application to a student organization, or revises a policy, we’re balancing what we need to get our jobs done against the notions of fairness, and equity, and notice, and precedent that animate so much of what a student’s time here is all about. On a more personal level, I think I’m learning to trust my gut more and also learning to say no.
What classes and professors have had the most profound effect on you here so far? Why?
Constitutional Law with Melissa Murray [Frederick I. and Grace Stokes Professor of Law] and Legislation and the Regulatory State with David Kamin [Charles L. Denison Professor of Law] take the cake. Each class fed an interest that led me to law school, and I left both classes only more interested. In particular, Professor Murray held us to a high standard to understand not just the doctrine as it stands, but as it was, how it changed, the actors that drove those changes, and how critical “who” or “what” gets centered in a legal narrative is to the evolution of a doctrine. What I loved most about Professor Kamin’s pedagogical approach was how he brought the cases to life. Whether a case dealt with fish—a shockingly frequent occurrence—or a complex regulatory regime, the material was tangible, and we left class each day with an understanding of how to apply analysis to real world controversies in administrative law.
Did you read any books/hear any podcasts lately that you would recommend?
My favorite podcast to recommend is Know Your Enemy, cohosted by Matthew Sitman and Sam Adler-Bell. The duo, usually with a guest, dive deep into the history, tradition, characters, and contradictions of the American right. Both humanizing and critical, their episodes add so much context to moments in American history and often illuminate recurrent patterns (or at least the genealogies) of trends in today’s right wing. The hosts’ backgrounds enrich their conversations even further, but I’ll leave that for any intrepid readers to discover why for themselves.
Posted October 18, 2024