糖心Vlog传媒

First-Generation Student Spotlight: Mirella Gallardo

For Mirella Gallardo, a third-year law student at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law, being the first member of her family to attend college has meant the world to her and her family. 鈥淚鈥檓 not a first-generation student because my parents didn鈥檛 want to go to college,鈥� Gallardo said. 鈥淭hey just didn鈥檛 have the resources. It was really tough for them. Ever since I was a child, my dad was so excited. He said he would have given anything to go to college. My parents have been so happy for me, and that has motivated me the whole time, knowing that my parents wanted that for me and that I have their support.鈥� Gallardo鈥檚 family moved from Mexico to Virginia and finally to Saltillo, Mississippi, where her parents and younger brother and sister still live. She earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in marketing from the University of Mississippi. 鈥淢y experience has been challenging, but if it wasn鈥檛 for my family鈥檚 support,I don鈥檛 think I would be as far as I am in my education,鈥� Gallardo said. 鈥淓ven though they didn鈥檛 go to college, they raised me thinking that I had it all and they would give me the support that I needed. They never expected me to go down the same path as they did. It鈥檚 been tough, because sometimes you have to learn some things on your own. Do I take the ACT or SATs?. What鈥檚 the LSATS? My parents couldn鈥檛 tell me, but everything they could help with, they were there.鈥� Gallardo has wanted to become a lawyer since she was 12. After looking at the requirements for law school as an undergraduate student, she had doubts. While Gallardo began college thinking law school wasn鈥檛 for her, it wasn鈥檛 a dream easily set aside. As her college graduation drew closer, she realized law was still her career goal. 鈥淢y mother became a U.S. citizen three years ago,鈥� Mirella said. 鈥淚 went to the ceremony and saw so many different people, from multiple nationalities, who wanted to be American citizens and had worked hard for that achievement. It motivated me.鈥� Gallardo considered staying in Mississippi to attend law school, but she was moved by Bowen鈥檚 caring and friendly environment. 鈥淎fter coming to visit the campus, it felt different than any other law school I went to. It felt like a family environment, and it felt like the professors cared,鈥� Gallardo said. 鈥淭hey seemed very down to Earth, and I was having a conversation with good people who really wanted you to go to their school. They provide you with the resources you need to succeed. I decided to take a leap and move to this state where I didn鈥檛 know anyone. It was far for me considering that I had never lived outside of Mississippi since I was a child. I wouldn鈥檛 have done that if the law school hadn鈥檛 made me feel comfortable and at home.鈥� Gallardo, who married her fianc茅, an accounting student in Virginia, over the summer, will graduate from Bowen in May 2021 and take the bar exam in July 2021. She is still considering what type of law she wants to practice, but said she finds criminal law the most interesting. For other first-generation students, Gallardo said that getting involved in student organizations, school events, and professional development activities has helped her to be successful in college. 鈥淚f I hadn鈥檛 become involved in clubs, events, and clerkships, I would have shied away from other people,鈥� Gallardo said. 鈥淕oing into anything as a first-generation student and being surrounded by people whose parents are lawyers and alumni can make you feel excluded. Don鈥檛 think of yourself as less. You have to put yourself out there and believe in yourself.鈥� At Bowen, Gallardo has participated in the Dean鈥檚 Student Advisory Committee, the Hispanic Law Students Association, and the Student Wellness Society. She also worked in the Admissions office at Bowen and had clerkships with Monterrey Law Firm in North Little Rock and Heaton and Harris in Hot Springs. Currently, she is completing an externship with the Arkansas Access to Justice Commission. 鈥淏owen is a very small and family-like environment,鈥� Gallardo said. 鈥淭he professors are very inviting, and it gave me the motivation to get involved in school with different student organizations. I鈥檝e gotten clerkships and jobs, and I鈥檝e made connections in Little Rock. The faculty at Bowen has never shut their door. They go above and beyond to let you know that they are rooting for you. They have all these systems in place to help you succeed.鈥�