June 01, 2020

Empezé Mi Legado - "Starting My Legacy"

June 01, 2020/ LAW SCHOOL … Sí Se Puede

By Magali Rocha, Fellow Class of 2016
Metropolitan State University of Denver

A red gown and a red cap are what I wore on May 18, 2019, as I am walking across the stage to receive my Associate of Arts Degree from Red Rocks Community College. Irrespective of the time it took me to graduate from this community college, I looked forward to starting another chapter in my life at Metropolitan State University of Denver in Fall 2019. The feeling of being around friends and on a familiar campus, loaded with diversity, filled me with exhilaration.

The time came that I had to find another job and my mentors, both Melissa and Mary, suggested that I use my newly received degree. With that, I applied at one of the best nonprofits for children, Boys and Girls Club (BGC), and I was hired. What I wanted was to go back to my community and give it what I had to offer, my knowledge. There is no better feeling than to share your knowledge with others, using your wisdom to make a difference, even if it’s small, in someone’s life.

A semester later, I passed my classes with good grades and became an invested and zealous Youth Development Specialist at BGC, my main focus being on Education. Once my job, school, and Law School Yes We Can conflated, I reflected: I have opened doors for my family members, family relatives, my mentees, and even children. These doors were opened so people with the same background as me or similar story to mine, can walk through. It would be absurd to say that I have accomplished all my achievements on my own. Law School Yes We Can has opened doors for me, my mentors have opened doors for me, and I shall do the same with what I can. I have begun my Spring semester and it will only be one year from now where I will walk another stage, but with a different color cap and gown.

“Sí, Se Puede” is a phrase born of farmworkers, who, under the leadership of the UFW, César Chávez, and Dolores Huerta, fought valiantly for equal protection under the law. As a result of the efforts of the UFW, “Sí, Se Puede” has become well known as a call that engenders hope and inspiration in those who face similar battles. We thank the UFW, whom we acknowledge to be the sole and exclusive owner of the Trademark SI SE PUEDE, for granting us a limited license to use“Sí, Se Puede” in connection with our efforts to recruit, in Colorado, students of Hispanic or Latino descent for our law school pipeline program. For more information about the programs offered by the UFW, please see UFW’s webpage (www.ufw.org); UFW Foundation’s webpage (www.ufwfoundation.org); and UFWF’s immigration services webpage (www.sisepuede.org)