Scholar Entries - Hispanic Lawyers Scholarship Fund of Illinois

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Are you a past recipient of an Hispanic Lawyers Scholarship Fund award?

Name

Alexandria Zendejas

Current Mailing Address

9414 Ironwood Ln
des plaines, IL 60016
United States
Map It

Phone

(847) 414-0207

Connection to Illinois

Live Here

In what city do you intend to practice law upon graduation?

Chicago

Name of Law School

NIU College Of Law

Class year

2nd year law student

Full Time or Part Time Student?

Full Time

Date you began attending THIS law school

08/19/2024

Anticipated Graduation Date

05/19/2027

Current GPA

2.4

Name of Undergraduate Institution

Elmhurst University

Degree (BA, BSE, etc.) and Concentration/Major

Criminal Justice, Spanish and Sociology Major

Undergraduate Graduation Date

05/20/2020

GPA

Were you employed in 2025?

yes

If yes, please identify your employer(s).

Alden Gardens and Courts of Desplaines

What was your immediate family’s (including you and your spouse or domestic partner, if applicable) estimated income from all sources for the 2025 Tax Year?

11,000

Do you expect to be employed in 2026?

yes

If yes, please identify your employer(s).

Alden Gardens ad Courts of Des Plaines

Please estimate your immediate family’s (including you and your spouse or domestic partner, if applicable) income from all sources for the 2026 Tax year

5,0000

Please estimate your parent's average annual household income over the last five years

29,000

Do your parents own or rent their home? Please describe, if necessary

rent

Describe your parents' health insurance situation. Do they have employer-sponsored health insurance, health insurance through the exchange, or no health insurance?

employer-sponsored

LIST below your total EXPENSES for attending law school for ONE YEAR (Please refer to example in FAQs)

Total Tuition Cost $

24,000

Books Cost $

2,000

Fees Cost $

600

Housing Cost $

Food Cost $

5,000

Other Costs $ (describe)

Gas 2,000

Total Expenses $ (add above entries)

33,600

LIST below your total FUNDING sources you plan to use to pay for these expenses (Please refer to example in FAQs)

Student Loans $

40,000

Scholarships and Grants $

8,000

Work Study, if any $

Personal Contribution (Savings/Employment) $

Family Contribution $ (include parents, spouse, partner, etc.)

Other Sources $ (describe)

Total Funding $ (add above entries)

48,000

For 2Ls and 3Ls, what is your current TOTAL loan debt from the previous law school years?

40,000

Please list any community service activities with which you have been involved in the last ten years, paying particular attention to activities in support of the Hispanic community. For each activity, please include the dates of your participation, a short description of the organization and the community they serve, and a description of the activity you performed to help them. (Please read FAQs before completing)

I have participated in the following: Feed my starving children, Bettsy Pantry, Library Clean-up and Forest Park Preserve Clean up.
In the community service that have serviced Hispanic Communities
- Shrine of Guadalupe 2019-2024: Involved in the choir and services such as donations or helping to clean up. The Shrine of Guadalupe, is located in Des Plaines and it is highly attended by hispanics. There is a lot of events such as spiritually and community based.
- St. Mary 2016-2020: During the afternoon we would cook, clean and make beds. This was mainly during the winter when we would provide these services. Once we made the food and bed's we would open the doors around 7pm so they could come in. These services were offered for people without homes or just in need of a safe place, this was held at the gym of the church. The organization was made of a group of people from church that would volunteer the time to serve the community and voice the help we offered.

Please provide a statement describing your background and focus your statement on your reasons for pursuing a legal career and your legal career goals. This statement is important. Please give it appropriate attention. (min. 1000 characters) (Please read FAQs before completing)

I am pursuing a legal career because I seek to be an advocate and contribute to my community. As first-generation student, I realized that many people do not have the opportunity to have the proper legal representation due to many barriers such as language. I have witnessed firsthand how that barrier affects Hispanic communities like my own. As I grew up, I saw how my family struggled to access adequate representation or have translate everything. There experiences affected me and inspired me to be a resource for those in need. Seeing the obstacles my families and others faces it has given me the goal to be able to service my community and deeply impact individuals life.
My interest in law is driven not only by personal experience but also by a desire to address broader structural inequities. I am particularly drawn to areas of law that directly impact communities, such as immigration and employment law. My long term goal is to help and mentor the Hispanic communities build trust between them with the law and our culture, many are scared and I want to remove that stigma.

Please upload a copy of your financial award letter labeled as follows: LastName.FirstName.FinAwardLtr*

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Zendejas.Alexandria.FinAwardLtr.pdf

Please upload a copy of your resume labeled as follows: LastName.FirstName.Resume*

Please upload a copy of your law school transcript labeled as follows: LastName.FirstName.LSTranscript*