Growing up as the son of refugees who came to Canada with very little, I never expected that I would have the chance to become a lawyer.
My dream was to study at McGill’s Faculty of Law because of its sterling reputation in human rights scholarship. I knew that professors like François Crépeau and Colleen Sheppard have made important contributions to issues I care about deeply: the wellbeing of refugees and the constitutional rights of religious minorities.
Receiving a Blake’s Entrance Scholarship allowed me to fulfill my dream.
The scholarship support has been a real game-changer. I have less financial stress than when I was completing my undergraduate and master’s degrees, and even have enough disposable income to occasionally attend social events with classmates.
I have also been able to get involved in the Black Law Students’ Association of McGill and the McGill Journal of Sustainable Development Law. I have met so many bright, kind and motivated people through these initiatives. Since many of them come from backgrounds different from my own, they have changed and expanded my perspective.
At the start of my first year at McGill Law, I was enormously proud to receive a copy of the Code civil du Québec from the Faculty’s Dean, Robert Leckey. That moment made it clear that I was embarking on an exciting new chapter of my life.
Looking to the future, I want to practice labour law. I am especially interested in promoting the wellbeing of refugees and immigrants in the Canadian workforce. I know the subtle ways that a person’s immigration status can prevent them from fighting for what they’re entitled to legally and morally.