✨🎓🥂Congratulations to all of my fellow 2022 SOPA Graduates! In January 2021 I embarked on an educational journey in General Legal Studies at Tulane’s School of Professional Advancement. My brain and my mind have been challenged and stretched in ways I didn’t know were possible. I have learned the language of law which gives me deeper understanding of justice, politics, and social issues. I will use this valuable education to become a more informed and hopefully more effective activist for social justice, racial equality, and women’s rights. As part of the SOPA program I had the most wonderful experience, fulfilling a long-held aspiration to learn more about intellectual property, working (in person!) at IPC LLC, a boutique intellectual property law firm in New Orleans. I learned a lion’s share, had fun, and made some great new friends there. As an aside to the program, via a SOPA class in Louisiana Notarial Law, I earned a commission as a Louisiana Civil Law Notary (no small feat - iykyk). I’m excited to use my commission, serving constituents in Jefferson and Orleans parishes. I absolutely love teaching Pilates and yoga. And I equally love working for my family restaurant business. I intend to continue to do both as I pursue how I can be more of service to my local community. This journey at SOPA has been everything I wanted and more. Thanks to all of my professors and mentors who have shepherded me along the path (especially Mark Melasky who made the internship possible, and Alan Childress my Civil Law Notary mentor). A tremendous thanks to my husband Daniel and all of my family and friends who have cheered me on during the process. I feel newly armed with knowledge to go forth and be more of a helper in this challenging world. I also feel like the luckiest woman alive to have had this opportunity. 🙏🏼🎓⚖️