MN High School Students Start New Club To Encourage Women To Pursue Law Careers

MN High School Students Start New Club To Encourage Women To Pursue Law Careers

Women in Law was started by two high school juniors this year.

NEW BRIGHTON, Minn. — Two Irondale High School juniors created a club to give women a leg up.

Kena Abdissa and Sela Samson started Women in Law in January to allow their peers to learn about law careers.

“For some reason, I’ve just always been interested in law and politics,” said Abdissa, who is the club’s president.

"There was Earth club, there was women in healthcare. I tried to join one geared towards law, but there wasn't any, so I decided why not make one for myself. When I was an underclassman, there weren’t any clubs or outlets I could turn to specifically in the school for law, so making this club, I wanted to be that outlet for the upcoming underclassmen,” she said.

Samson is the club’s vice president.

“Ever since I was a kid, I think I’ve always had like a fire inside of me just for law and any other career path or subject didn’t hit as hard as law did,” Samson said.

She said they started the club out of passion. She also knew they could do it.

“I think we both want to foster a very unique community and one that’s really uplifting for one another,” she said.

Even though they’re only juniors, Abdissa said starting the club wasn’t daunting.

“I would say not a fear but something I was kind of worried about or had in the back of my mind is ‘well, what if nobody shows up,’ but then I just realized that even if we just had one member, being able to connect with that member and just having any type of community no matter the size is what I wanted at the end of the day,” she said.

Their club has grown to about 10 women. They meet once a week for an hour after school.

“People were very excited for something new and different,” Samson said.

One of those people was Adriana Jefferson, a freshman.

“My goal is to become a lawyer, a public defense attorney,” Jefferson said.

She said her mother is a paralegal, so she’s been interested in law for years.

“She’ll tell me about all of these interesting cases, and since an early ag,e I’ve just been interested in that,” she said. “This club just kind of gives me a deeper insight into, like, more specific fields in law.”

Sophomore Tenzin Bahakdo isn’t sure if she wants to become a lawyer, but the club is helping her figure it out.

“It’s not guaranteed for me, but like I think it is a possible choice for me in the future,” she said. “If you’re interested, you should totally go.’

Another freshman in the club is Sena Abdissa, Kena’s sister.

“I do enjoy it, and it has made me more interested in law. I’m not sure yet if I still want to go into law, but maybe in the future I will,” Sena said. “There are different types of lawyers, so oh maybe I can go into that because it aligns with my interests and things I like to do.”

Kena said the club is for anyone interested in exploring a career in law and can help people solidify whether they want to pursue a law career or not.

“I think around law, there’s a lot of stigma around it, or just like misconceptions around what being a lawyer is like, I know I’ve probably had some. And so, I just wanted to allow even those who even had the smallest interest in law to see what it’s really about and see the realities,” she said.

On April 24, they had their first guest speaker, Nicole Kettwick, a partner at Brandt Kettwick Defense.

“I knew I wanted a job where I felt like I was helping people and making a difference and I know that’s really broad, but that’s a great reason to go to law school because you can really make a difference to make an impact on people’s lives,” she said.

Kettwick told them she fell in love with a career in law right away and wants to help more women in the field.

“We need more lawyers, we need more women lawyers, we need diverse lawyers, our community is lacking significantly. Most of what I saw were older White men, and that can feel really intimidating,” Kettwick said.

She said the life of a criminal defense attorney isn’t your average 9-5 job, but it’s a rewarding career. She said she’s in a unique position where she can help people get back on track and direct them to resources.

“A goal that I’ve had for my career is that at the end of my life, I’ll look back and say I made a difference in the world, I made the world a better place, whether it’s through one person at a time, helping them get through something, and hopefully making the process better with how I treat people,” she said.

Kena hopes that by starting this club, more young women will develop an interest in law careers.

“I think that early exposure is really critical because, especially during your freshman and sophomore year, you’re discovering who you are and your identity,” she said.

Samson hopes this club will boost members’ confidence and hopefully inspire women to pursue a career in law.

“I think we’re really excited to continue our community of future women lawyers,” she said.

Kena and Samson said they are still looking for legal professionals to speak to their club. If interested, you can send them an email at idhs.womeninlaw@gmail.com.

SOURCE: KARE11