Congratulations, Jessica Xu, on Being the 2019 Recipient of the Make a Difference Scholarship!
Yeboah Law Group is excited to announce that Jessica Xu has been awarded the Make a Difference Scholarship for 2019! Ms. Xu is a 1L student at the UCLA School of Law and David J. Epstein Program in Public Interest Law and Policy.
Ms. Xu is graduated cum laude from UC Santa Cruz with a double major in Economics and Politics. During her time there, she served as the Vice President of Academic Affairs in the Student Government, and helped organize a campus-wide collaboration on a voter registration and GOTV initiative. When she graduated, rather than dive back into school, Ms. Xu took a job as the Intake and Program Coordinator with the East Bay Community Law Center, “the largest provider of free legal services in the East Bay and Berkeley Law’s largest clinical offering.”
Ms. Xu is a bilingual, first-generation Chinese immigrant, dedicated to advocating on behalf of the historically disadvantaged, and to widening the worldview of others in similar situations. As she so eloquently explained to us:
I feel an obligation to assist monolingual Mandarin clients, as these populations suffer from cultural guilt that makes it challenging for this community to speak out against authority. Ingrained across many Asian cultures is a belief that people should be deferential to authority figures. Growing up, these principles were reinforced at home, yet challenged at school. My experience navigating these cultural obstacles and balancing these expectations with principles from my American education allows me to recognize and dismantle cultural barriers built upon generations of oppression – although people should be grateful for what they have, they should never be afraid to exercise their rights and agency.
This passion and drive to empower marginalized and underserved communities is at the root of Jessica Xu’s desire to go to law school, and the reason why we believe she is an ideal recipient for the annual Make a Difference Scholarship. Yeboah Law Group started this yearly scholarship because we wanted to help a new generation of young and hungry lawyers become the change they wanted to see in the world. Each year, we award $3000 to a student who we believe embodies this vision. Ms. Xu is tough, passionate, and ready to change the world – and we consider it our honor to help her do just that.
Congratulations, Jessica Xu! We expect to see great things from you.