I gazed out of the taxi window, watching the night lights of N’Djamena pass by for the last time. My eleven-year-old self tried to internalize the familiar scenes of the Chadian city, knowing that I was about to leave the country in which I had grown up and having no idea when I might return. My family was moving to the United States. As I embarked upon sixth grade in semi-rural Oregon, I found myself in a world that bore little resemblance to the small villages in rural Chad where I had grown up with occasional electricity and no running water. A change also began to take place in me. Having severe dyslexia, I had struggled to learn to read and write, lagging behind for much of elementary school. I subconsciously believed that, being dyslexic, I could not excel academically. Although my fifth-grade teacher helped me catch up, I was still barely working at grade level in reading and writing when we moved to the US. However, during middle school in Oregon, aided by the added maturity and determination that I gained through learning to navigate a new place and culture, I realized that academic success was possible with hard work and obstinate perseverance. During high school, I also began to realize something else. As a freshman, I heard about a woman who had escaped from a life trapped in prostitution and helped other women do the same. This and other experiences showed me that many women need an advocate but do not have access to one. I wanted to advocate for vulnerable women, but I did not yet realize that the legal profession could provide me with the opportunity to do so. Having no lawyers among my family or friends, I had virtually no exposure to the legal field growing up. I imagined lawyers as slippery characters who helped rich people resolve frivolous disputes. However, when my senior-year civics class visited the Oregon State Capitol, the judge giving us a tour mentioned that his working-class father once told him that lawyers were among the most honorable people he knew. Remembering this comment several months later, I sought to learn more about the profession that I had so ignorantly stereotyped. I realized that it would give me the opportunity to use my love of exegetical analysis, logical reasoning, and debate to argue for someone, rather than simply against someone, in cases that really matter. Still, this realization came gradually. Moreover, I did not conceive of myself as a student who would go to an Ivy League university. No one among my family or friends had done so. However, as I began attending community college, I was inspired to apply to transfer to Columbia University. Still, I felt almost certain that I would be rejected, especially as a former Ivy League admissions interviewer told me that I had no chance of being accepted. It turned out that he was wrong. As I entered my senior year at Columbia, I decided to write my honors thesis on the effect of corruption on the enforcement of anti-human-trafficking laws in India. Through my thesis research, I learned how prevalent this issue is around the world and how enmeshed it can be with centers of political power. However, I also began to learn how the law can be used to combat it. As a lawyer, I want to investigate and prosecute cases of human trafficking and sexual exploitation. I am currently pursuing a law degree at Harvard Law School to gain the knowledge, skills, and qualifications that I will need to do this vital work.

The victim statements, mostly from young women, continued for pages. They had caught my eye when the report had arrived in the morning mail in the congressional office in which I was interning. I had paused to read several of them before delivering the report, which contained evidence of ongoing sexual harassment by leaders of a certain business. I was troubled by the thought that, despite my efforts to bring the report to the attention of the legislative aides, it might go into the recycling bin without any action being taken. I could not forget the plight of those young women, some probably my age or even younger. Many of the challenges facing the world today are rooted in industries and practices that treat humans as means for financial gain, rather than as ends, disregarding the inherent value and dignity of every human being. Such disregard is displayed in practices such as human trafficking and sexual exploitation. I want to become a lawyer to use my love of exegetical analysis, logical reasoning, and debate to fight these practices through investigating and prosecuting cases of human trafficking and sexual exploitation. As an undergraduate senior at Columbia University, I decided to write my honors thesis on the effect of corruption on the enforcement of anti-human trafficking laws in India. My thesis research helped teach me how prevalent human trafficking is around the world and how enmeshed it can be with centers of political power. However, it also helped teach me how the law can be used to combat it. As a child moving between small villages in rural Chad without electricity or running water, I never dreamed that I would someday become the first in my family to pursue a law degree. While working toward becoming a lawyer, I have sought to give back to my community in other ways, such as through starting a club that partners with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The club seeks to assist the UNHCR in running events, raising funds, sharing information, and organizing other initiatives. I have also sought to give back to my community through volunteering at a foodbank, a park clean-up crew, and a fitness program for youth with disabilities. Having tutored mathematics in high school, I also helped tutor mathematics to friends at Columbia. These experiences and others have helped develop my leadership skills, as well as teaching me to problem-solve and think on my feet. Growing up with severe dyslexia and working my way from learning to spell my full name for the first time when in fourth grade to graduating from an Ivy League University in the top two percent of my class has also taught me determination and perseverance. These skills will aid me in my future work as a lawyer. Reading the victim statements of the young women who were facing sexual harassment as they merely sought to earn a living not only confirmed my desire to advocate in court for victims of sexual abuse and human trafficking, but also fueled a heightened sense of urgency to qualify as a lawyer and start doing such work. However, it also impressed upon me the weight of this task. Having been accepted to Harvard Law School, I want to attend law school so that I can gain the knowledge, skills, and qualifications that I will need to join the ranks of those doing this urgent work and help fight human trafficking around the world.

My fifteen-year-old self sat in a high-school classroom, listening to a woman speak about how she had escaped from a life trapped in prostitution and then helped other women do the same. I realized that many women in such situations need an advocate but do not have access to one. While I wanted to advocate for such women, I did not yet realize that the legal profession could provide me with the opportunity to do so. Having no lawyers among my family or friends, I had virtually no exposure to the legal field growing up. I only heard about lawyers as slippery characters who helped rich people resolve frivolous disputes or escape the consequences of their actions. However, this perception changed when my senior-year high-school civics class visited the Oregon State Capitol. The judge giving us a tour mentioned that his working-class father had once told him that lawyers were among the most honorable people he knew. Remembering this comment several months later, I realized that I had subconsciously accepted an inaccurate stereotype about the legal profession. Over the following months, I embarked upon a quest to learn as much as I could about the work of a lawyer. The more I learned about the profession, the more I realized that it would give me the opportunity that I had been seeking: the opportunity to use my love of exegetical analysis, logical reasoning, and debate to argue for someone, rather than simply against someone. This is why I want to become a lawyer and pursue a career in public service. As a child growing up moving between small villages in rural Chad without electricity or running water, and as a severely dyslexic fifth-grader spelling ‘few’ as ‘fyoo’, I never dreamed that I would someday become the first in my family to attend an Ivy League University and the first to pursue a law degree. While earning my undergraduate degree at Columbia University, I studied abroad at the University of Oxford. While at the Oxford Union listening to a lawyer describe her work prosecuting cases of modern sexual slavery, I felt that she was describing the job I wanted. It was work that involved analyzing evidence and legal texts, arguing in court, and using these skills to help those who had suffered the most intimately violating wrongs that a woman can suffer. As a lawyer, I want to work in investigating and prosecuting cases of human trafficking and sexual exploitation, such as through working for the United States Department of Justice or the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Upon returning to Columbia, having been accepted to Columbia’s political science honors program, I decided to write my honors thesis on the effect of corruption on the enforcement of anti-human trafficking laws in India. My thesis research helped teach me how prevalent human trafficking is around the world and how enmeshed it can be with centers of political power. However, it also helped teach me how the law can be used to combat it. My experiences have not only confirmed my strong desire to advocate in court for victims of sexual abuse and human trafficking, but have also fueled a heightened sense of urgency to qualify as a lawyer and start doing such work. However, they have also impressed upon me the weight of this task. Having been accepted to Harvard Law School, I want to attend law school so that I can gain the knowledge, skills, and qualifications that I will need to join the ranks of those doing this urgent work and help fight human trafficking around the world.

I stood alone on the street corner, opposite the surging crowd, as people disapprovingly eyed my “Proud to be Pro-Life” sign. A policeman thought it fit to hang around in the vicinity when he saw that I was the only person with a pro-life sign at this pro-choice rally. This occurred during my sophomore year at Columbia University; I had taken a break from studying for finals to mount a one-person counterprotest at a large pro-choice protest held in the wake of the Supreme Court leak that suggested that the Court intended to overturn Roe v. Wade in ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. As a Christian, I believe that humans, being made in the image of God, are categorically distinct from all other forms of life, and that human life at all stages is precious and sacred. This includes unborn children. Biology clearly supports that a new human life begins at the moment of conception. From fertilization onward, the child has its own unique DNA, distinct from that of its mother or father; all the genetic information necessary for the child’s development is already present. Thus, the basic human right to life begins at the moment of conception. Holding these beliefs, I have sought to live them out in my daily life. I wrote my first article for the Columbia Undergraduate Law Review arguing that constitutional originalism required the Supreme Court to overturn Roe in ruling on Dobbs. When the Supreme Court came under attack for overturning Roe, I argued in support of the legitimacy of the Court at a debate hosted by the Columbia Debating Union. As the Manager of External Relations for Lions for Life, the pro-life club at Columbia, I helped run events such as a bake sale to raise funds for local pro-life pregnancy centers. In these ways, I have sought to make my faith an active element in every part of my life; I hope to continue to do so in my future career as a lawyer. I want to become a lawyer in order to use my love of exegetical analysis, logical reasoning, and debate to advocate in court for those who are vulnerable, such as unborn children and women facing abuse. I hope to work in anti-human trafficking and sexual abuse law, and am also interested in the area of constitutional law relating to the legality, or rather illegality, of abortion. I am also interested in First Amendment law and in defending the freedoms of religion and speech. Thus, I hope to use my legal education to rescue women from human trafficking by prosecuting traffickers; to fight to uphold laws outlawing abortion and laws protecting pro-life pregnancy clinics; and to advocate for people facing unjust violations of their rights to freely practice their religion and not be forced to violate their consciences. In these ways, I hope to use the knowledge, skills, and qualifications that I will gain through attending Harvard Law School to protect all stages of life, including unborn children and exploited women. Being the only pro-life protester at a pro-choice rally, as well as generally being a pro-life student at a university where most students are vehemently pro-choice, has taught me that, if one wishes to stand up for human life at all stages of development, there will be times when one will have to stand alone. However, it also taught me that when one takes the initiative to stand alone, others will rally. These lessons will continue to inform my life as I seek to live out my faith in my future legal career.

I used to be terrified of public speaking. Yet, there was something about it that attracted me. I began to realize that I loved speech writing and debate. Deciding not to let my fears prevent me from pursuing my dreams, I embraced times when I had to make speeches, such as when I made my valedictorian speech. I became a student leader in my college’s Civil Discourse Program and spoke at forums. I started doing competitive debate and won several awards. I want to become a lawyer to use my love of debate to advocate in court for the exploited.