Home: Brooklyn, New York. I just moved here recently and am loving it!
UT Dallas Degree: BS – International Political Economy, 2010
Profession: I am an attorney working as the Brennan First Amendment Fellow at the national office of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
I was a Eugene McDermott Scholar, which profoundly impacted my college experience. The program covered the costs of my education, helped me connect with professors and mentors, and encouraged me to take advantage of special opportunities to supplement my studies, such as studying Arabic in the Middle East and interning at the World Bank.
I am a fellow in the Speech, Privacy & Technology Project of ACLU National. Our project works on issues concerning digital privacy and free speech rights, which can sometimes be in conflict with one another. I work on a host of different issues, including state secrecy surrounding the lethal injection process, student free speech on social media and government whistle-blowing, among others.
After college, I lived in Egypt for one year on a Fulbright Scholarship. I studied Arabic through an intensive program and volunteered with forced migrant communities to help teach conflict resolution skills. After that, I attended UC Berkeley School of Law in California. During my two summers in law school, I interned at the ACLU and at the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), both in New York City. I spent my final year of law school at Harvard as a visiting student.
My training at UT Dallas has helped me with my analytic, writing and communication skills as an attorney. I was fortunate to build strong relationships with some of my professors and mentors, many of whom continue to be resources for me today.
I had professors who were willing to go the extra mile to help me succeed at UT Dallas and beyond. They encouraged me to apply to competitive scholarship and graduate programs and coached me along the way. Their support is what gave me both the confidence and the skills to be where I am today.
My advice would be to take advantage of opportunities to build relationships with the very approachable and immensely accomplished faculty within their respective schools. I would also strongly encourage students to have experiences away from UT Dallas — whether through an internship, a language immersion program or an exchange with a different university — to broaden your understanding of the world. These experiences are only really available during your college years, so I would scoop them up.
My father attended UT Dallas as an international student in the 1980s and studied in the business school. My younger brother is now attending UT Dallas and is studying finance.