Annual Mentor Day highlights higher education
“Education is the only way you can make something of yourself.”
This is what Jennifer Hu ’11 remembers her dad telling her when she was young and his words served as a driving force while she pursued her studies in high school and at Columbia University where she graduated in 2007. Hu, now a second year law student, shared her experiences pursuing a college education during a panel discussion for high school students participating in Street Law’s annual Mentor Day.
“We want the students to get a better idea of what it means to be a law student, have a fun time learning the law, and be inspired to pursue higher education,” said Alaina Walker ’11, and the chair of Street Law’s Mentor Day. “We’re dispelling the myth that it’s not cool to be smart.”
The Street Law program sends USC Law students to work with local public schools during the year and teach students about legal issues that impact their lives, such as juveniles being tried as adults in court. Recently, three schools – Dorsey, South East and New Designs – sent students to USC Law for the day-long Mentor Day program where they were encouraged by law students to begin thinking seriously about attending college and even graduate school. About 100 law students participated.
Professor Michael Chasalow taught a class where the high school students could learn the basics of business law. Using Homer Simpson as the owner of a new donut shop, Chasalow introduced the concept of a corporation and how a corporate structure is assembled.
Divided into smaller sections, the students attended panel discussions where law students shared the hurdles they faced to attend college and how they reached their decisions to attend law school.
“I think that once you have a goal, you can stick to it,” Cherise Latortue ’10 told the students. Latortue explained that she was the first of her six sisters to go to college and worked full-time while an undergrad at NYU.
“Coming from the Caribbean, college is not an immediate first step for women,” she said. “You’re left to do what you want after high school. Most women get a small-time job and focus on having a family. I wanted a career – not just a job.”
Latortue says she wrote the word “lawyer” on a piece of paper which she kept pinned to the wall of her dorm as a reminder of where she wanted to go.
Hu’s dad immigrated to New York from China in the early 1980s.
“My dad had to leave school at age 16 during China’s Cultural Revolution and was forced to work on a farm,” she told the students. “Afterwards, he was unable to go to college because he wasn’t as prepared as students who stayed in school. He felt there weren’t many opportunities for him in China without and education.”
The high school students were told that grants and scholarships were available and encouraged them to begin exploring websites to learn more. They were also given view books and applications for various colleges so they could get an idea of what would be required of them.
The law students impressed that they each faced some of the challenges the high school students currently face such as worrying how to pay for college. But their overwhelming message was that it is important to have your dreams and follow them.
“There are so many kids who don’t have the financial support to go to college,” said Hu. “I think that telling my story can inspire some people and help them not give up on college.
This was Latortue’s third year participating on the Mentor Day panel.
“I think it’s helpful for high school students to see someone in their position reaching for the stars,” said Latortue. “We’re not that much older then these kids so they can see themselves in us.”
-Story and photos by Maria Iacobo
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