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

Zoe San Martin

Current Mailing Address

1642 E 56th St, Apt 407
Chicago, IL 60637
United States
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Permanent Address (only if different from Current Mailing Address)

1501 NE 108th St
Miami, FL 33161
United States
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Phone

(305) 742-9855

Connection to Illinois

I am a J.D. Candidate at the University of Chicago Law School.

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

Chicago, IL

Name of Law School

The 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

06/01/2028

Current GPA

175

Name of Undergraduate Institution

Princeton University

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

AB, Major: Public Policy & International Affairs, Minor: Chinese Language & Culture

Undergraduate Graduation Date

05/28/2024

GPA

3.8

Undergraduate Honors, Awards, or Special Recognitions

magna cum laude
Fulbright Scholar
The Class for 1924 Award (most outstanding contribution to a Policy Seminar in Public & Intl. Affairs)
2023 Dean’s Scholar in the Nation’s Service (SINSI, demonstrated commitment to public service)

Were you employed in 2025?

yes

If yes, please identify your employer(s).

Fulbright Taiwan (Foundation for Scholarly Exchange), Taipei, Taiwan

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?

7,500

Do you expect to be employed in 2026?

yes

If yes, please identify your employer(s).

The University of Chicago Law School Immigrants’ Rights Clinic

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

6,000

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

80,000

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

own

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

no 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 $

1,800

Fees Cost $

1,750

Housing Cost $

14,000

Food Cost $

6,000

Other Costs $ (describe)

Transportation, Personal Expenses, Federal Student Loan Fees: 13,458

Total Expenses $ (add above entries)

120,324

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

Student Loans $

105, 324

Scholarships and Grants $

15,000

Personal Contribution (Savings/Employment) $

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

Total Funding $ (add above entries)

120,324

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

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)

University of Chicago Law School Latine Law Students Association (2025-present)
The Latine Law Students Association (LLSA) at the University of Chicago Law School fosters an academic, professional, and social community that empowers law students to navigate the rigors of law school and thrive in their legal careers. Our mission is to promote Latine representation in the legal profession, create pathways for success, and celebrate the rich diversity of cultures across Latin America, the Iberian Peninsula, and the broader diaspora. I serve as a 1L Representative for LLSA.

Princeton Model Congress, Senior Advisor (2023-2024), Executive Director (2022-2023)
Princeton Model Congress (PMC) is the oldest model congress in America. Every year, the student organization hosts a Conference for high school competitors.
I served consecutively as Executive Director and Senior Advisor of PMC. As Executive Director, I spearheaded the expansion of our Financial Aid program and personally contacted over 40 public high schools with the aim of opening our platform to students from less resourced backgrounds. Advocating on behalf of these schools, many of which were predominantly black or hispanic, I was able to secure the attendance of several students free of charge.

McGraw Center for Teaching & Learning, Learning Consultant (2022-2024)
The McGraw Center supports the personal and academic flourishing of students at Princeton. As a Learning Consultant, I met with peers and underclassmen to discuss strategies for their academic, personal, and professional development. While the McGraw Center makes its resources available to all students, it tends to be utilized most strongly by students from minority and/or under-resourced backgrounds. I frequently met with first-generation, hispanic students to talk through their adjustment to Princeton's academic rigor.

Princeton University Freshman Scholars Institute (FSI), Course Fellow (Summer 2022)
FSI is a summer program for rising first-year students at Princeton. FSI invites students who have not only demonstrated exceptional dedication to scholarly inquiry, leadership, and service but who also represent a wide array of intellectual, ethnic, social, and economic backgrounds. FSI participants are primarily students from minority and/or under-resourced backgrounds. As a Course Fellow for HUM 250: Ways of Knowing, I ran "Text Labs," small-group discussions that both prepare and challenge students to critically read, analyze, and write about scholarly text.

Breakthrough Miami, Teaching Fellow (Summer 2020)
Breakthrough Miami provides an academic enrichment program that uses a student-teaching-students model to ensure that motivated, under-resourced 5th – 12th grade students have access to excellent educational opportunities, graduate from high school on time, and attend college. As a Teaching Fellow, I taught a class of roughly 30 rising 6th grade students English & Reading Comprehension. Teaching in 2020, I had to quickly learn to how to adapt to online instruction.

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 understand that the law, while seemingly intangible, bears real, profound influence upon peoples’ lives. Raised by Cuban immigrants in Miami, FL, I saw how domestic law – whether in education, policing, or property – shaped discrete rights, and the lack thereof. At Princeton, my major in Public Policy & International Affairs helped me crystallize the law’s reach to not only domestic issues but matters of global significance, as well. The intersection of my personal, academic, and work experience has shown me that beyond its text on paper, the law holds an immense role in dictating global rights and obligations. In my eyes, becoming a lawyer means empowering myself to guide the law’s impact for the better.

My interest in law and equal justice is tied to my personal exposure to institutional inequality. I have always been sharply aware of my privilege. While my parents pressed upon me the value of an education, whether I would receive that education was never guaranteed. At nine years old, my sister and I were told that we could no longer attend our elementary school because we lived “out of the area.” Sneaking bites of the pastelitos my mom had jammed into our lunch boxes, we couldn’t understand how our address made us any less deserving than our classmates. As we were bounced between not two, but three elementary schools, I realized the disparity in resources invested across area codes. While one school openly encouraged students to take books home, another – a school with predominantly black and hispanic students – kept books under lock and key. Taking on teaching roles as I became older, I promised myself that I would use my education to push back against systemic underrepresentation and barriers to access.

At each step of my professional journey, I have reaffirmed that commitment to service. This past year, I received a Fulbright Award and taught English at a public elementary school in Taipei. There, I worked with over 400 Taiwanese students, ages 7-12. With my background in US-China foreign policy and ability to speak Mandarin, I saw serving as a cultural ambassador from the United States to Taiwan as an invaluable way of not only using my education to uplift other students but also of gaining a deeper, more genuine understanding of Taiwan and its people. Before my Fulbright, I taught as a Course Assistant for Professor Martin Flaherty’s Policy Task Force on Rule of Law in China, as a Ways of Knowing Course Fellow for Princeton’s Freshman Scholars Institute, and as a Teaching Fellow for Breakthrough Miami. My teaching experience is complemented by my peer-mentorship as a McGraw Learning Consultant and my leadership in Princeton Model Congress (PMC).

The leadership that I demonstrated through PMC is indicative of the values I aim to sustain and grow in my legal career. Following the pandemic, PMC had all but fallen apart. I, however, refused to walk away from the platform designed for elevating students’ voices. Learning how to both shoulder the organization while delegating responsibility, I fostered a close team of peers to rebuild PMC and host our yearly conference in Washington, D.C. Moreover, as Executive Director, I personally led and oversaw the expansion of our Financial Aid program so that not only well-resourced but all students could access our platform. After our conference, my peers unanimously created and nominated me for the position of Senior Advisor. I continued to advise the team while I was abroad my senior fall.

Outside of education, my resume speaks to my passion for and dedication to service through the law. Following my time at the Florida State Attorney’s Office, the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida, and the American Bar Association’s Rule of Law Initiative, Princeton recognized me as a 2023 Dean’s Scholar in the Nation’s Service. The honor not only acknowledged my record of academic performance and leadership but also my potential to pursue a career enriched by service. I firmly believe in the strength of compassion and service toward others and I intend to uphold those values throughout and beyond my legal career.

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

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SanMartin.Zoe_.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*