Ms. Mariana Zapata is a second-year, part-time law student at the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law. She received her bachelor’s degree in Justice Studies from Northeastern Illinois University. Ms. Zapata aspires to become an estate planning attorney and provide pro bono legal services in immigration and expungements for low-income communities. She plans to use the HLSF scholarship to transition away from her full time job and assume full-time enrollment as a law student in the Spring of 2023. This summer, she will remain working as a full time litigation assistant at Patton & Ryan, LLC.