Introduction

Hello all! For those of you who are just finding Jury of Peers – welcome! I’m Emily, a 2L from Salt Lake City, UT (originally from LA!). 

A few tidbits about me: I studied Creative Writing in college, I lived abroad in Israel for a year after college, and I love to read. Over the summer, I worked at an incredible public interest organization here in Los Angeles where I had the amazing opportunity to manage three immigration cases. 

This year, I am on the Public Interest Law Foundation (PILF) board, serve as a staffer on the International and Comparative Law Review, write for the LLS Inter-American Court of Human Rights Project, participate in the Loyola Genocide Justice Clinic, and am a Student Ambassador for the Office of Admissions! Oh yeah, and I go to class too! I love being busy and while it can sometimes feel like a lot of work, I know it is all so worth it!  

2L is different from 1L in that you get to shift from the foundational classes to more of what kind of law you want to learn about. For me personally, I am in more internationally focused classes and international human rights experiential learning opportunities. This is where my interest in law truly lies, so it is great to take classes and participate in a clinic where I really get to dig deep in the law and learn the intricacies behind it all.  

After my 1L, I do see more familiar faces on campus, I know what the Erie Doctrine is (if you know you know), and I get to put to practice the laws that I learn in class. But law school is still a place where I get to explore the world in a new way. I get to ask questions of brilliant legal scholars and research new legal issues in front of international tribunals. I get to challenge myself. 

As a 2L, you feel like you have a slightly better idea of what you’re doing, and campus feels familiar. You’ve also survived 1L, and you have a better idea of what you want to do after school, and what kind of lawyer you want to be. Better yet, you have a good idea of what kind of person you want to be. 

Introduction

Hello all! My name is Itzayary Aguilar and I am a 2L here at Loyola. It seems a little unreal to say that, because I feel like I was just a 1L some weeks ago. So much has changed since 1L and I am excited to share the wealth! I have grown more comfortable on campus and a lot more confident in my abilities. I think this is something many first generation Latinx students experience and sometimes struggle with, especially because imposter syndrome is very real and is completely valid. As a 1L, I spent most of the first semester feeling a bit intimidated and nervous. However, I have learned that many 1Ls feel the same, and everyone is just trying their best to get through it with grace. Now, as a 2L, I realize that it will all be ok in the end, and all you can do is give it your all and keep going. The coursework will always be rigorous and challenging, but you gain and develop skills that help you conquer it. Taking a step back, that is really why we are all law students, to learn and gain new experiences.

The biggest lesson I learned is to truly focus on myself and my own journey. There is a lot of noise on campus about how to study properly, what jobs to apply to, and how many extracurriculars to try out for. Ultimately, none of the noise matters if it is not aligned with what you are passionate about and who you want to be as a professional. Law school feels different in that sense, it feels a lot more like a personalized experience that I am in control of, as opposed to the other way around. With that being said, I decided to be more involved on campus to become more comfortable with the campus itself and I am now a general board member for both the Women’s Law Association and Reproductive Justice LA, as well as the Communications Chair for the Public Interest Law Foundation. Prior to coming to law school, I worked in two different self-help centers, primarily working with family law, restraining order, and unlawful detainer documents. To become familiar with a new area of law, I applied for the State Income Tax Clinic which has given me invaluable experience as a student representative for taxpayers in the appeals process. In sum, I am the product of all of these experiences, mistakes, lessons learned, and more! Please feel free to approach me on campus. I would love to get to know everyone.