How Identity Has Influenced A Paralegal's Career In Legal Services
Stephanie, a first-generation Latina paralegal, shares how imposter syndrome significantly impacted career navigation in a predominantly white legal field, noting that "Latinas in the legal field are only about three percent." Overcoming this, Stephanie emphasizes the importance of self-advocacy, embracing fear as motivation, and continuously striving for growth to achieve career goals beyond the current paralegal role.
Overcoming Challenges, Imposter Syndrome, Confidence, Motivation, Advocating for Yourself
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Stephanie Henriquez
Paralegal
Legal Services Company
UCLA: 2018
N/A
History, Art History
Law
Legal
Scholarship Recipient, Pell Grant Recipient, Worked 20+ Hours in School, Greek Life Member, First Generation College Student
Video Highlights
1. "Overcoming imposter syndrome is crucial for success, especially as a Latina in a predominantly white legal field."
2. "It's important to be proud of your accomplishments and advocate for yourself; no one will do it as well as you."
3. "Don't let fear hold you back; instead, use it as motivation to pursue your goals and challenge yourself."
Transcript
As someone who identifies as a first-generation Latina, how has that impacted how you navigate your career?
It's definitely impacted me, especially with imposter syndrome kicking in. Latinas in the legal field as a whole, attorneys are only about three percent. Let alone paralegals, and there are more paralegals.
It was intimidating, at least in the first firm I worked for. It was predominantly white, so I really felt that imposter syndrome kick in. I kind of felt like I did when I was an undergrad; it's a whole different environment compared to the community I'm usually used to, which is predominantly African American and Latino.
What has helped me again hone in with what it is is just realizing everybody's scared. Everybody's doing something with this field, regardless of whether your mom or dad were an attorney. That person still has obstacles they have to overcome.
As far as my background, nobody in my family is an attorney or was apparently. So I think learning to be proud of yourself for the fact that you're here is important. Always staying curious, always staying confident, and advocating for yourself as best as you can.
Nobody's going to advocate for yourself as much as you will because you know your work, the work you put in, your efforts, and what you know. It's probably best not to let imposter syndrome get to you either, because I think that really prevents some of us from growing.
By "us," I mean Latinos as a whole. Fear sets in, and it's like, "I might not be able to do it." But don't let fear stall you; instead, let it invigorate you and make you want to pursue these things that you're scared of. You really don't know what you're going to get out of it.
And behold, I'm here right now, a paralegal. I've been a paralegal for a few years, but I definitely don't think this is the end of my career. For now, it's paralegal, but there are definitely other pursuits I'm going to seek out later down the line.
Ultimately, just strive, grow, and if there's fear in something you want to pursue, just do it.