2024 was an exciting year! I spent my second semester of 1L competing in a mock trial competition with the National Black Law Students Association, where my team of all first years placed second in the regional competition and fourth in the national one! It was such a great experience and really affirmed that I want to do trial advocacy. I spent my summer in Atlanta, Georgia where I interned at the Southern Center for Human Rights. I absolutely loved the city and it was such a privilege to work with an organization that has been doing incredible work to combat the death penalty, excessive sentencing and prison conditions in the south for decades. I actually was taught by one of the Southern Center’s most prominent directors, Stephen Bright, during the spring as well when I took his course, Capital Punishment: Race, Poverty & Disadvantage. When I returned to New Haven I moved to a different part of the city where I am loving my new neighborhood though it is a bit farther from the law school. My second year of law school has been a lot of work but it has been very rewarding. During the summer in addition to working at the Southern Center I also did work for a clinic I would join in the fall, the Environmental Justice Law and Advocacy Clinic. My summer work led to me arguing in Fresno Superior Court in opposition for a motion for summary adjudication during only my second week of classes last fall! It was a surreal experience and one that I will cherish for the rest of my legal career. My clinic work kept me very busy this last semester. However I also found time to be the Secretary of the Yale Black Law Students Association, work as a rep for a legal search engine Lexis, and continue my position as a research assistant for Deborah Archer at NYU. Heading into this spring semester knowing I am now more than halfway done with law school is almost unimaginable. I feel like it was just yesterday I was graduating from MVRHS and heading to Barnard College. I am so grateful for the support and opportunities MVYouth provided me throughout my 4 years of undergrad and beyond that have gotten me to this point. Thank you MVYouth!