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

Sisto Jacobo

Current Mailing Address

5131 S. Blackstone Ave., Apt. 3
Chicago, IL 60615
United States
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Permanent Address (only if different from Current Mailing Address)

1205 Adobe Lane
EL CAJON, CA 92021
United States
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Phone

(619) 402-5805

Connection to Illinois

First year law school student at the University of Chicago Law School.

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

Chicago

Name of Law School

University of Chicago Law School

Class year

1st year law student

Full Time or Part Time Student?

Full Time

Date you began attending THIS law school

09/29/2025

Anticipated Graduation Date

06/05/2028

Current GPA

176/ 3.00

Law School Class Rank (if known)

N/A

Law School Honors, Awards or Special Recognitions

George T. Crossland Scholarship recipient and ABA Opportunity Scholarship Fund Scholar.

Name of Undergraduate Institution

Arizona State University

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

Undergraduate Graduation Date

05/06/2024

GPA

4.00

Undergraduate Honors, Awards, or Special Recognitions

Moeur Award recipient (4.00 GPA across 8 semesters), Dean's List (2020-2024), summa cum laude recognition, National Hispanic Scholar, Los Abogados Professor Calleros Fellow, and honor graduate.

Were you employed in 2025?

yes

If yes, please identify your employer(s).

Burton Kelley, LLP, Law Office of William A. Hannosh, and Rocha Law Firm.

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?

220,000 (mother and father's income)

Do you expect to be employed in 2026?

yes

If yes, please identify your employer(s).

Unknown, currently applying for 1L summer internships.

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

240,000 (mother and father's income)

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

220,000

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

Own with a mortgage.

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

Employer-sponsored health insurance.

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

Total Tuition Cost $

83,316

Books Cost $

1,788

Fees Cost $

4,374

Housing Cost $

9,600

Food Cost $

9,000

Other Costs $ (describe)

0.00

Total Expenses $ (add above entries)

117,078

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

Student Loans $

70,433

Scholarships and Grants $

20,000

Work Study, if any $

0.00

Personal Contribution (Savings/Employment) $

6,000

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

20,645

Other Sources $ (describe)

0.00

Total Funding $ (add above entries)

117,078

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)

Worked as an assistant research analyst for Arizona State University's Center for Latina/os and American Politics Research. Before being paid to do so my senior year of college, I worked in a similar capacity as an unpaid CLAPR Emerging Scholar (from Fall 2022–May 2023), assisting on research projects devoted to assessing the impact of COVID-19 on the local and national Latino community. Within these projects I focused on K-12 education, identifying disparate effects on young learners and parent advocacy issues.

Later worked under 2 ASU professors to complete my honors thesis centered on Hispanic career services. There I identified specific areas in undergraduate career service offices that were not addressing the needs of Latino students sufficiently, and offered my findings to my professor after graduating, so that the research could continue. With my professors' support, I presented my thesis at the 2024 Latina/o Studies Association Conference to advocates and educators, and answered questions about my work.

I have since been involved with mentoring Hispanic pre-law students, first informally through CLAPR and connections made with other students, and since by being involved with ASU's new Hispanic pre-law club. Through LLSA, UChicago Law's Latine student association, I have been able to mentor pre-law students in UChicago's undergraduate Hispanic pre-law club and connect them with opportunities through a public interest law organization I'm currently volunteering with.

Finally, I volunteered at a local, Chicago immigration aid clinic early in my first quarter, and intend to keep volunteering there/ seeking out other opportunities for immigration work this quarter.

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)

Tata Meño’s truck bumps down the dirt road, rattling The House on Mango Street in my hands. He laughs, “You’ll be blind when you’re my age.” I shrug and search for my place in the book. Tata built his home by the sea after a life spent hunched over hot earth. Four months after our drive, two men shot Tata on his doorstep over a wallet. They were never found. I finished The House on Mango Street days before his funeral. At fifteen, I found comfort in lessons on life’s cycles from a twelve-year-old girl. Her story of loss resonated through our shared ethnicity, and I decided to elevate Tata’s lessons.

He instilled the value of education: the key to escaping the poverty that stifled our family. With it, I surpassed the reading level of my grandparents by second grade. After immigrating from Mexico, my family picked and hauled produce along Central California. Despite their perseverance, Tata held a conflicted message. I heard of the inferiority of a working Mexican: diligent, but simple-minded. So, I had to get straight A’s and go to college. And be molded into the men who paid my grandparents a dollar an hour while pesticides stung their hands.

Long past the second grade, I defended my honors thesis before my (thrilled) family. It studied the gap between university career services and the development of Hispanic professionals. I conducted a literature review, interviewed six faculty members, and surveyed 297 students. My findings showed a need for mentors who understood and resembled Hispanic students. Forty pages later, I submitted my thesis. A picture of Tata smiled at me from my desk.

Friendships I made at the Center for Latina/os and American Politics Research inspired my topic. My co-researchers’ struggles in securing internships mirrored mine as a second-generation college student. I created the Hispanic Career Resource Guide to compile career advice for overlooked Latino students. Bilingualism, ingenuity, and community were its pillars. With the Center’s resources, I shared my guide with students and expanded it through my thesis.

Hispanic students see Latinidad as a barrier to starting a career. But to abandon their identity feels like a betrayal. Instead, our identity empowers and connects us to other marginalized voices. Forging solidarity within systems designed to stunt minority achievement. I came to appreciate my background through the mentorship of a Latino professor. With his confidence, I applied to the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office, still unconvinced. My confidence came with the acceptance email: my first job.

Within three months, I interned at the Arizona House of Representatives. I saw the power of representation, how it shapes daily life. Though devoted to nonpartisan work, each hearing disillusioned me. I lacked a voice. After my internship, I felt thankful but disconnected. I utilized my improved writing to design infographics about harmful legislation. To encourage Latino political participation, I made a Spanish tutorial on bill tracking. I sought direct advocacy for people like my grandparents and found it in the law.

As a paralegal, I see the human cost of law. Beyond skin color, culture, and legislation, I fight for indigent clients, immigrants, and asylees. Trapped by laws they do not understand. Now, I draft and send prosecutorial discretion letters to federal officials. They are often unresponsive, so I write requests for state senators to defend their constituents—inspiring action. Government trained me to convey facts with clear writing. Advocacy taught me to wield those facts for others’ benefit. I build solutions and grow when I cannot.

The House on Mango Street taught me to spread what I learn. I advocate for those ignored by a legal system upholding equality but beset by inequity. A law degree instills empathy and knowledge. Traits I must improve to mentor and represent underserved communities. I am one generation from fieldworkers. Sacrifice sowed the seeds of my learning. I am grateful to continue their legacy as a lawyer, serving my community in Chicago and beyond.

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

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Jacobo.Sisto_.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*