From my childhood to the present, an unconventional place has been instrumental in the emergence, formation and expansion of my desire to help disadvantaged communities: the hair salon. It was this passion, founded in an unexpected neighborhood, that brought me to King Hall at UC Davis. Through the concentration in Human Rights and Social Justice, I will be prepared for a career in the legal field where I can serve the communities I know best, both through public counseling and education. When I was about eight years old, my parents divorced. and my mother took my sister and me to live in Watsonville, California, a small farming town that seemed foreign to my hometown, Sacramento. My mother, who immigrated to the United States from Mexico as a teenager, had great family support in the city, so moving there was a wise choice for her, both financially and emotionally. We lived in a full house in which each adult – except for my disabled grandparents – worked two to three jobs to support the family. Because I barely saw my father, my uncles were often in Mexico, and my grandfather didn't communicate much with us kids, I wanted to interact with grown men. I found comfort when my mother started taking me to a local hairdresser, and was delighted when one of the barbers finally asked if I could help out on Saturdays by sweeping and taking out hair. trash cans; I was compensated with “tips” and a haircut. At the time, I viewed my Saturdays at the hairdresser simply as a way to get out of my poor home environment and familiarize myself with a world I didn't know. I was oblivious to the fact that this trip to the barbershop had given my mother more time to study...... middle of paper ...... writing skills by contributing to the highly respected King's Law Reviews Hall, I will become a positive and cautious voice for the public. With proper enforcement of the law, significant, albeit incremental, changes can be made to benefit the aforementioned communities that I strive to help. Working as a barber allowed me to see and experience the struggles faced by socio-economically marginalized communities. in the world. While I have enjoyed my outreach and advocacy experiences, I am ready to embark on a legal education that I know will strengthen my ability to create or defend justice where it is often absent or unclear. The hair salon is responsible for showing me the challenges that communities face at a local level; but law school will take credit for giving me the tools to solve these problems, on a global scale..