Law

In many cases, the standard for admissions into a prestigious law school program is that the candidate must be one with an intense drive to succeed, a desire for excellence and a drive to achieve the goals that have been set before himher. But I believe that in my background, the circumstances that I grew up in made my drive not only to excel but also a sense of compassion for those, like myself, who though were on the short end of the stick, as it were, made the most of what we had, enhanced that and made us better and stronger individuals. I do not see my background as a handicap to what I aspire for, to be accepted and graduate from your august law program, but to learn and hopefully give back to society, to aid those who were in my predicament a few years back, not only in a social essence but also in a legal manner if granted admission into your program.

Growing up, many factors could have been the reason for me just to give up, because of the hostility and apathy of society. My mother, an immigrant from Mexico, was left alone o raise me in a poverty stricken setting. The fact that we were poor and my Mexican lineage became sources of embarrassment for me as I grew up. In school, that differentiation was constantly reminded me by my dominant classmates, fueling my desire to be accepted by the superior class. But that differentiation was not limited to me alone my mother would often come home in tears, those differences and the barriers that they created being reminded to her at her place of employment. The image of my mother crying stirred my passions to desire that inclusiveness to the dominant society, not as an abdication of who we were just to fit in, but a recognition of who we are, to help others in their quest to overcome, and to help the people at the short end of the stick.

In college at Xavier, the embarrassment that I was different was when I had to work a full-time job while trying to graduate by attending night and weekend classes. But the differences that  I had so much perceived to be embarrassments were to become my building blocks towards successfully achieving my goals. In my job at Convergys, one of the leading companies in the world, the experience in working at such a prestigious company allowed me to contribute in a significant manner in my class, benefiting my classmates, while the new knowledge I learned in school allowed me to contribute in return to help my employer. At Xavier, I learned web site design this allowed me to impart that knowledge to help Convergys in the development of the companys intra-net web pages, thus saving the company a considerable amount of expenses.  As a member of the Global Diversity Council at the company, I was able to contribute my real life experiences in communicating and coordinating with other team members at various locations around the world.

I prided myself as a person who was not afraid to ask, so I was the one who always asked the questions that no one wanted to open in class. Also, the experience of going to school while at the same time working full time proved to be an immeasurable advantage to me, since this gave me a first hand, hands on experience at managing and fulfilling multiple tasks all at the same time, though I had initially thought of this as an disadvantage at the onset. Again, I had seen that deficiencies, or differences, can be turned into advantages in achieving ones goal. Again, this was made evident to me as I began my stint as a Corporate Diversity Specialist at Toyota. Utilizing my understanding as a member of both dominant and the non dominant sectors in society, and my fluent use of Spanish, I resolved productivity issues, and improved the relations between company headquarters in Kentucky and the production base in Mexico. Realizing the problem was underpinned by a dearth of understanding of the two parties, I initiated acting on the issue by collaborating with the team in the creation of a course on cross cultural competence, inclusive of the history of the two cultures, the differences and the similarities of each culture.

As a result of this program, the business methods being used by each greatly improved, leading to increased productivity and more importantly, an enhancement of the respect that each party gives to one another.  To further strengthen the bonds that have been established, I visited the production base in Mexico, where I implemented a diversity scorecard, and crafted a diversity policy and a training program suitable to the Mexican cultural framework. These actions has resulted in the creation of a Latino affinity group, developed by myself, that enhanced the respect and understanding of our Latino employees, which constitute 2 percent of the Kentucky workforce. The initiatives I undertook at the Mexican plant has bore fruit in the improvement of our relations with the other plant in Canada and the Kentucky headquarters.
The passion that I possess for the creation of a culture anchored on inclusivity that respects and appreciated the differences in every person has grown into a living and vigorous part in every activity that I go into. In the many experiences that I have undergone these past years, I have found the power of the diversity that we all share, and the importance of using that power as well as integrating it into my activities. In the past when I felt that the differences were a well spring of embarrassment for me, now I understand that they no longer are such for me. As I aspire to be part of the legal profession, these differences need to be seen in all facets of the American society. This can be achieved in the equal opportunity that American law will afford to all citizens, regardless of the factors that define that person. As a person who loves to answer a challenge, passionate about what I believe and practice, and of course, asking questions, I feel the desire to step into the gaps and become a solution rather than be part of the problem, of discrimination and hate and retaliating such acts against those of my heritage. In my chosen field of Employment Law, I want to bring that desire of creating that inclusiveness, and being equipped with a legal education will allow me to become a more effective advocate of that cause. A legal foundation, coupled with my diverse experiences, my heritage, fluency in Spanish and familiarity with another culture will give me the advantage of being a well-rounded lawyer and advocate of the future needs of the future workforce, be they dominant or not.