Scholar Entries - Hispanic Lawyers Scholarship Fund of Illinois

← Go back

EmailEmail hidden; Javascript is required.

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

Name

Mario (Andres) R

Current Mailing Address

7411 Dixon St. Apt 401
Forest Park, Illinois 60130
United States
Map It

Phone

(708) 465-3991

Connection to Illinois

Raised in Illinois (HS Diploma); UIC Alumni; Currently at Chicago-Kent Law.

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

Chicago, IL

Name of Law School

Chicago-Kent College of Law

Class year

1st year law student

Full Time or Part Time Student?

Full Time

Date you began attending THIS law school

08/11/2025

Anticipated Graduation Date

05/30/2028

Current GPA

3.331

Law School Class Rank (if known)

unknown

Law School Honors, Awards or Special Recognitions

N/A

Name of Undergraduate Institution

University of Illinois at Chicago

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

B.A. Criminology, Law, and Justice; Minor in Spanish

Undergraduate Graduation Date

05/30/2022

GPA

4.0

Undergraduate Honors, Awards, or Special Recognitions

GPA: 4.0/4.0; Summa Cum Laude, Departmental Distinction, Deans List All Semesters, The Dream US Scholar

Were you employed in 2025?

yes

If yes, please identify your employer(s).

Pilsen Neighbors Community Council (Former)
Illinois Workers in Action (Current)

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?

42,000

Do you expect to be employed in 2026?

yes

If yes, please identify your employer(s).

Illinois Workers in Action (Part-Time)

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

9,600

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

24,000

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

Rent; 1200 monthly

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

No healthcare (undocumented)

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

Total Tuition Cost $

56,000

Books Cost $

500

Fees Cost $

300

Housing Cost $

6,000

Food Cost $

5,000

Other Costs $ (describe)

Car + Insurance (10,000)

Total Expenses $ (add above entries)

77,8000

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

Student Loans $

$0 (Not eligible for Student Loans b/c undocumented)

Scholarships and Grants $

45,000

Work Study, if any $

(Not Eligible)

Personal Contribution (Savings/Employment) $

2,000

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

N/A

Other Sources $ (describe)

N/A

Total Funding $ (add above entries)

47,000

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

N/A

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)

BEYOND LEGAL AID, Chicago, IL (Immigration Legal Aid Not-Profit serving immigrants in Illinois)
Language Justice Volunteer, September 2024 – Present
● Interpret confidential meetings between attorneys and clients
● Aid in the translation of documents for clients
INSTITUTO DEL PROGRESO LATINO, Chicago, IL (Community Based Organization Serving Hispanic Community in Illinois)
Legal Volunteer, December 2023 – Present
● Assist in the monthly N-400 workshop, guiding immigrants through the process for naturalization
● Conduct legal screenings under attorney supervision, and aid in filling out legal forms
TUTORING ENGLISH TO ADVANCE CHANGE (TEACH), Summit, IL (Tutoring Based non-profit focused on teaching english to spanish speaking natives; serving poeple in IL)
Tutor, March 2024 – December 2024
● Provided tutoring sessions to a non-native English speaker to improve their language skills
● Developed lesson plans focused on grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, and conversational skills
Pilsen Unidos por Nuestro Orgullo (PUNO) (Volunteer based organization focused on protecting residents of Pilsen from abusive immigration enforcement practices)
-- Pilsen Rapid Response taskforce to plan a proactive response to federal immigration enforcement actions,
which included working with non-profits, businesses, churches, schools, and other community stakeholders

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 career in law because I am undocumented. Most people do not understand the true meaning of the word “undocumented,” or the weight of this opening statement. But my younger self felt the gravity of it deeply—the boy who, from the age of seven, was instructed to walk in the shadows, to blend in quietly, and to carry a secret so heavy that even his parents feared its revelation. This quiet, immense burden shaped my worldview, teaching me the cost of silence and the power of courage. Now, I am driven to use the law as a tool for change, to stand up for others carrying similar burdens, and to advocate for a future where no child has to bear the weight of invisibility.
When I was growing up, my parents’ undocumented status relegated them to low-income jobs. My mother began her American life working minimum wage as a cashier at a cleaners. My father followed my mother into the same cleaners before starting his own landscaping business. To help alleviate their bleak financial situation, my three siblings and I would aid my father whenever we could. In the summers, we spent our afternoons mowing lawns and raking leaves, and in the winter, we rose before dawn, braving snowstorms to shovel snow off driveways and gas stations. Despite these hardships, my parents never failed to instill in me the importance of an education, knowing that it was the only way for us to escape our circumstances.
In my pursuit of an education, I learned the true challenge my undocumented status would bring. My status prevented me from securing much-needed financial aid or qualifying for any federal loan, but due to my strong academic performance in community college, I was awarded a scholarship that covered my full tuition at the University of Illinois at Chicago. After two more years of dedication and perseverance, I proudly graduated summa cum laude.
My first professional job as a law clerk at Children’s Legal Center was one of life’s great ironies; I was helping people obtain the same citizenship I had been chasing my whole life. I was tasked with compiling asylum applications for newly arrived immigrant children and their families, many of whom did not receive a court date and resolution to their case until years after arriving. Once again, they were victims—this time of politics and the disorder imposed by our broken immigration system. And like me, seventeen years before them, they faced the daunting challenge of adapting to a new culture and language—but among all the professionals, I was the only one who truly understood what lay ahead for them.
It was anger that finally brought me out of the shadows, as I witnessed firsthand how the laws of this country had failed not only my family, but countless other families as well. I started organizing with Pilsen Neighbors Community Council because it was my responsibility to speak up, to show courage, and to end the cycle of silence and fear that had consumed my community. I first organized university representatives from over a dozen higher-ed institutions across Illinois to improve higher education access for underrepresented minority students, including the undocumented. We proudly awarded our annual Fiesta del Sol Scholarship to support students with tuition expenses—in honor of my younger self, who had struggled so much to finance his education.
I also formed a coalition of undocumented students from seven Chicago universities to advocate for immigrants’ rights. We were leaders in the “Work Permits for ALL” campaign, which urged President Biden to use his executive authority to grant relief to the more than twelve million undocumented immigrants in this country. Through our efforts, President Biden signed his executive action on June 18, 2024, granting short-term immigration relief to spouses of U.S. citizens and facilitating work visas for Dreamers, both with and without DACA.
My voice has become a testament to the change that is possible when we stand up against the systems that seek to silence us. I have seen firsthand how these systems have disenfranchised my family for decades, keeping us hidden, struggling, and voiceless. This experience drives my ambition to pursue a career in law—one where I can use my voice to challenge and transform those very systems.

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

Warning: Trying to access array offset on false in /srv/users/serverpilot/apps/hlsf2023/public/wp-content/plugins/syncs3-gravity-forms/includes/integrations/gravityview/integration.php on line 37

Warning: Trying to access array offset on null in /srv/users/serverpilot/apps/hlsf2023/public/wp-content/plugins/syncs3-gravity-forms/includes/integrations/gravityview/integration.php on line 37
Rizo.Mario_.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*