Help this Latina Graduate From Law School!

My name is Joanna Molina. I am a second-year law student at Lincoln Law School in San Jose, CA. I am reaching out to my community for financial assistance for my second year of law school. Some background: I grew up in the East Side of San Jose, CA. In a single-parent household, with my mom being the sole provider. Although my mother did her best, it still wasn’t enough. Having a stable place to live was always an issue and we constantly faced food and clothes insecurity. My mother being an undocumented immigrant, was scared to ask the government for help so she worked two to three jobs to provide for us. A very clear memory for me is the frustration I felt every time I was sent home from school for not being able to afford a school uniform. I learned at an early age that I had to find ways to provide for myself, which weren’t always positive ways. I saw a lot of injustice growing up in the East Side. I personally was harassed by the police and stopped many times simply for being brown in my neighborhood. This distorted my perception of government and the law, as well as how society must view me. At a young age I told myself, “well if the world is going to treat me like garbage, then that’s all I can give back to the world-garbage.” I was a 13-year-old child walking around with so much fear and it manifested itself in to rage. I didn’t understand why I felt scared, sad, and unsafe in my environment. I saw myself as if there was something wrong with me for not being able to adjust to the unhealthy environment I was growing up in. I started using drugs at the age of 13, for a way to cope with what I was living. I quickly learned to numb my feelings and harden myself to survive. I did this so well that by the age of 17 I did not recognize myself. I was suicidal, emotionless, hardened—and facing 12 years in an adult prison. Although a stint in Juvenile Hall was normal for kids in my neighborhood, I couldn’t believe how easy it was for the system to eat me up and send me away for 12 years. My mom couldn’t advocate for me, not only did she not know the language, but she didn’t understand the judicial process.Thankfully, I had a few mentors growing up who genuinely cared for me. When I was sitting in that courtroom looking at 12 years in an adult prison, they didn’t stand idly by. They fought for me. They advocated for me. This encouraged me to fight for myself. God blessed me with people, like my mentor Pattie Cortese, who saw potential in me, loved me as if I was her adopted daughter. I went back to the mentoring program where I met Pattie and volunteered for a few years, then was offered my first job as a life skills coach. From there, I branched off to work at Bill Wilson Center as a youth counselor, Abode Services as a Wellness Specialist, and Next-Door Solutions as a Crisis Advocate. In 2017, I was offered a job by County Supervisor Dave Cortese. As a policy aide, I was in charge of advocating and shaping policy on women’s issues, juvenile justice, and homelessness, among other policy areas. In this role I discovered my passion to practice law. Currently I am working at a law firm where we specialize in Landlord/Tenant Law and Employment Law. A key part of my job is being able to communicate with our Latino clients who feel heard and safe talking to someone who can speak their language. I am no longer afraid of the government or the law. I want to learn it, practice it, create it! I am assertive, persistent, and relentless—a survivor! I will not stop until I have that law degree in my hands. I ask you to consider the financial assistance as not merely helping one Latina get ahead but rather as an investment in bringing about legal practices that are more equitable, more inclusive, and more just for our whole community, especially for those who have historically not been well-served by law and government.  I am forever grateful to those who believed in me and gave me a shot at a new life. I am committed to not letting their investments in me go to waste. I am asking for you to help me keep my word, to help me inspire the next generation of young kids struggling to see the potential in themselves as I did. How your contribution will help:According to the American Bar Association, out of 1.3 million lawyers practicing law in the United States 5.8% are of Hispanic descent, and even a less number of Hispanic women. By investing in my legal education, you are helping minimize the disproportionality of Hispanic individuals practicing law in the United States, and most importantly bringing legal services into our Latino communities.