My name is Katelyn Dumancela, I’m born and raised in Queens, New York. I wasn’t always into law until my sophomore year of college at BMCC. I was studying liberal art because I didn’t decide on my major yet. I  came across a law club, which  I didn’t it know it was a club at the time, and it was all because I was hungry. The law club was hanging out pizza and I was a hungry college student, so I gave in and decided to stay for the club. They had a Guest speaker come in; I believe he was a family court attorney. I became interested in what he was and stayed till he was done speaking. I stayed and spoke with him as well as the rest of the class. He mentions how he started as a paralegal, and I didn’t even know what that was until he explained it. That’s basically how I decided I wanted to become a paralegal.

Hello, My name is Cand-Alicia Corke. I’ve recently moved to the U.S in 2019 from a beautiful Caribbean island called Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. I love watching criminal documentaries, baking and listening music. I’m currently a paralegal student hoping to become a criminal psychologist in the near future. I choose this major because i would love to have a degree in law which I can later put to use to get my degree in psychology at Columbia university. I also choose my career path because I feel like not every criminal is a bad person I have a feeling that the society they grow up in influences their behavior and i’ll love to study and help them  I’m also a party girl that loves to enjoy herself and love to make friends.

Hello, I am Elias Marmolejos, growing up I would get in trouble for a lot of things in school which lead me to get called to the office and phone calls home. I’m not saying I was innocent of everything I was accused of but there were times when I was innocent. During these times I would have to prove my innocence to not only teachers and vice principals but to my parents. As a kid who wasn’t vocal and was quiet would completely change once someone had done me wrong, I would prove my innocence by bringing out friends as witnesses and using bathroom sign-out sheets as evidence. Even though I’m still not sure what I want to do in the future since I still am that kid I’ve decided to go into law and paralegal studies.

I spent my summer playing basketball and spending time with family, nothing major happened during my summer but overall it was decent. 

Hi, I’m Maureen Okyere not o-kee-rie but au-che-rie. I grew up in Minnesota and I’m what one would call an acquired taste. I’ve lived in Minnesota, Texas, and New York and traveled to Canada and Ghana.  I’m majoring in law and paralegal studies because I want to become a lawyer someday. I discovered my love for law in high school when started advocating for myself and the people around me so I became president of my school’s Student Government. Unlike my peers, I wanted to become a doctor when I was younger, preferably a surgeon or a forensic anthropologist because I wanted to help people and also liked fixing things. I know that sounds weird. I loved science and everything about the human body. Growing up I watched shows like Bones, Law and order(SVU duhhh), Grey’s Anatomy, Castle, True Crime, and Rizzoli & Isles. It’s cool on TV but not in real life. The older I got I started liking new things. I still love science, and history, reading certain books, Listening to music, singing, free writing, and other things.

      Hello, I’m Md Shamir Hossain, the youngest son in my family who are immigrant from Bangladesh to this foreign country. Growing up, I always struggled with cultural assimilation. My family migrated to the United States when I was just 9 years old. When I came to the States, I was introduced to many barriers; food, language, garments that I would only see in Hollywood movies, not in my conservative country, and how diverse it is. At such a young age, I was faced with many adversaries. I had to constantly change my persona to fit in or adapt to a new environment. Because of my differences, I would often get looked at or judged with racial remarks or stereotypes, but I would not let that get to me but instead, I would embrace my cultural heritage because it’s something I’m proud of and it’s not something I can use a shroud to cover up, it is who I am and my roots. My parents never forced me to pursue anything other than what I was interested in, but ironically, I chose a legal career. I always knew I would become a physician assistant since 9th grade. I dedicated my entire high school year to volunteering at clinics and hospitals. In fact, my current occupation is being a caretaker for the elderly, but I’ve lost so many family members during COVID-19 that now hospitals scare me. I’m very spontaneous at the moment. Of course, I researched and I have always been told that I would make a good lawyer simply because I’m very good at arguing and demanding what I want. I’m very vocal and not shy about sharing my perspectives of what’s wrong or right.

      My career plan is to graduate from college with my Bachelor’s in Paralegal Studies and then pursue Law School to get my practicing license eventually. In this work field, I want to focus on immigration. I want to represent low-income families or clients who are in need of any humanitarian relief or have issues with their naturalization status. In our legal system, there’s always been a balance with injustices, and it’s spoken too often about issues like; deportation centers separating families and children who are too young to even understand what’s happening; inconsistent safety issues that families face; sanitary issues that many are victims of being dehumanized. I’m privileged that I never experienced this situation nor my family, but that doesn’t mean it does not involve you. Everyone deserves basic human rights, and I would stand up for anyone who is a victim.

      Something I want you to know about me is that I had a good summer. I traveled alone with some friends, and I visited Canada, Nevada, California, Utah, and Arizona. It was definitely an experience I won’t forget. I love traveling and trying out new things. Over the summer I went hiking in the Grand Canyon and Zion National Park’s Angel Landing. It was so scary and full of adrenaline experience. I almost died, but it was worth the pictures and videos. I can’t wait for next summer because I plan on visiting Alaska to see the Northern Lights, and then around Europe with my Mom. It’s one of our bucket lists from the show “The Gilmore Girls.”

Hello my name is Alex and i’m pursuing a degree in Paralegal studies because I want to gain a a better knowledge of how our country’s law system operates. My goal is to transfer to another college where I can further study Criminology/Criminal Justice. My ultimate goal after college is to become a federal Law Enforcement agent for the Secret Service or FBI. I have always wanted to pursue this path because I have heard that the profession is very rewarding and the experiences received are unlike any other job.

One thing I want people to know is that i’m from Virginia and I love traveling to new places. I have been to over 10 countries and I plan to explore even more.

Hey, my name is Madison. I am in the Law and Paralegal Studies program because becoming a Paralegal is the first step I am taking to potentially becoming a lawyer. I always wanted to be a Lawyer since young, but as I got older and did more research, I started to doubt my ability to actually do it. So i’m going to start off as a Paralegal and see where this takes me. If this doesn’t work out, I am also interested in Real Estate and becoming a Real Estate Agent.

Something I want you to know about me is I love watching true crime documentary, cold cases, murder mysteries, and anything that has to do with that. I also had an alright summer, I did a couple of new things but mostly worked.

Hello, my name is Nataly. I am pursuing an associate degree in paralegal studies because I want to become a lawyer eventually, for me this is the first step to follow a path in which I will succeed as a lawyer.  I am highly interested in the legal field; I would like to learn more about legal proceedings as well as how the legal system works. I truly am an aficionado when it comes to watching documentaries about different true crime cases as well as series about judges, although I am still not clear on whether or not I would like to become a criminal defense lawyer, an immigration lawyer or a personal injury lawyer. I want to go to Law school and plan to achieve it no matter the obstacles.

Something I would like you to know about me is that I did have a great summer, I got a job that I really like, I am a nail technician at Glosslab so if you want to do your nails, you know where hehe, I hope we all have a great semester, I am excited for this class and I know we will do great if we are focused and put a lot of effort.

Hey guys, my name is Tyerrah Ramos and I am pursing a bachelors in Paralegal Studies. It took me a while to mentally get to this point, ever since I was little girl I always thought I would have a career in fashion. Whether it was modeling like the girls i saw on Victorias secret, or being an editor in chief of a high fashion magazine like Miranda Prisley, I just knew I would be a fashion mogul. Well after pursuing fashion for basically all of my life, I decided it wasn’t the job for me. I came to the realization that I could love fashion without working in the field. So I did a lot of soul searching and decided Law was the way to go. Even if I didn’t become a big time lawyer, knowing my rights and the way the law system works can help me better protect the people that I love. My family (being mainly hispanic and black) can sometimes be a target for social injustices and with my knowledge I can help to avoid that from happening as much as I can. Aside  from that I love song writing, spending time with family and friends, and reading.

Hello everyone, my name is  Biana. I am in law and paralegal studies because I’m someone who’s obsessing with cases and trials and because of that it become a hobbies for me to play with my sister, (Example) of Who would be the criminal, Who would be the judge ,Who would be the attorney, Who would be the jury and Who would be the audience. I always wants  to win arguments even when I know it’s pointless. Since I was a kid my dreams is to become an attorney to help out my community.

Something I want you to know is that this summer was the worst of all the summer I had before , because all I did was work and I didn’t have time to spend with my family or friends.