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

Diana Salinas-Murillo

Current Mailing Address

6306 North Hermitage Avenue
Unit F
Chicago, IL 60660
United States
Map It

Phone

(773) 431-2980

Connection to Illinois

Native resident to Chicago, IL

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

Chicago

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

08/19/2025

Anticipated Graduation Date

05/16/2028

Current GPA

3.09

Name of Undergraduate Institution

Wellesley College

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

Undergraduate Graduation Date

05/14/2024

GPA

3.89

Undergraduate Honors, Awards, or Special Recognitions

Honors in English, magna cum laude - May 2024
Phi Beta Kappa - May 2024
Charlotte Paulreese ’38 Memorial Prize for Creativity in Writing Award - April 2024
The Johanna Mankiewicz Davis Prize for Prose Fiction Award - April 2023

Were you employed in 2025?

yes

If yes, please identify your employer(s).

Centro Romero - ESL Instructor (October 2024 - December 2025)

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?

65,000

Do you expect to be employed in 2026?

yes

If yes, please identify your employer(s).

Children’s Legal Center - Legal Intern (January 2026 - )

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

65,000

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

50,000

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

Own w/mortgage

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

Mother has employer-sponsored insurance which lists my father as a dependent

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

Total Tuition Cost $

56,730

Books Cost $

1,815

Fees Cost $

1,182

Housing Cost $

0.00

Food Cost $

2,000

Other Costs $ (describe)

Transportation Expenses - 750

Total Expenses $ (add above entries)

62,477

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

Student Loans $

0.00

Scholarships and Grants $

40,000

Work Study, if any $

5000

Personal Contribution (Savings/Employment) $

16,000 (Employment)

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

3,000

Total Funding $ (add above entries)

62,000

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)

1. Pro Bono Network - Chicago, IL
(January 2026 – Present)
The Pro Bono Network provides pro bono services to low-income Americans. As a translator/interpreter volunteer, I am assigned to Spanish-speaking clients seeking services on immigration and family law, and I translate during attorney-client meetings and legal documents.

2. Center of Elder Law and Disability - Chicago, IL
(December 2025 – January 2026)
The Center of Elder Law and Disability serves low-income seniors and people with disabilities in Cook County. I volunteered as a Winter Break Legal Intern, where I conducted client screenings, intakes, and drafted referral letters for low-income seniors and their guardians.

3. Children’s Legal Center – Child Law Clinic in Chicago, IL
(October 2025)
The Children's Legal Center provides free immigration legal services to children and families in Chicago, serving both the Hispanic community and other immigrant populations. At the Child Law Clinic, I communicated with clients in Spanish to draft guardianship petitions and other necessary documents to initiate their state court case

4. Centro Romero - Chicago, IL
(November 2024 – January 2025)
Centro Romero serves refugees and immigrants on the Northeast side of Chicago, primarily focusing on the Hispanic community. As a volunteer, I provided support to Latino immigrants navigate asylum and work permit processes through document reviews.

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)

At the outskirts of the city of Guanajuato, Mexico, there is a small ranch that bursts with tradition and culture. When I think of my Hispanic heritage, my vision encompasses not just my parents and older sister but also the several branches of aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents who live in Mexico. I can look back on my cousins and me playing soccer in the dirt fields, eating pomegranates from our backyard with my sister, and my grandmother naming a lemon tree after me. From my values to career goals, it would be more difficult to describe how my Hispanic heritage hasn't influenced me, considering the rich culture I was brought into.

As I came to discover, identities are complex beings that affect communities at different margins. Our financial status and my identity as a queer woman often made me feel isolated from my community and my culture. However, I did what I always did best—research and advocate for myself. Beginning college as a Mexican American queer woman, I took courses on gender and race and was excited to grow my interests in advocacy and sustainability. When I interviewed my rural community in Mexico for my thesis project, I discovered accounts of sexual and domestic violence and their hardships in poverty. My community’s stories played an important role in understanding how gender and racial injustices physically manifest and motivated me to pursue a career in law. By the end of college, I had made so many diverse connections and came to understand what it meant to me to be a queer individual as a Mexican American.

Since starting law school, I have developed strong time management, writing, and research skills. During my first semester, I worked as an ESL instructor at Centro Romero, where I spoke fluent Spanish to help with client intake, translation, and explained available immigration resources to the community. Furthermore, through my volunteer work, I have strengthened my communication and writing skills in different legal processes such as drafting applications and petitions for work permits, guardianship, and custody cases. My commitment to working with diverse communities has made me especially confident in my interpersonal skills, which I am eager to apply in the legal practice.

Ultimately, my Hispanic heritage led my academic and social interests throughout college. Most significantly, it has also deepened my commitment to empowering my community, and I am eager to bring this same dedication to law school and my future legal career. My college career and involvement in social work have been the greatest influences on my decision to attend law school. I also return to the unavoidable politics of my identity, which I grew up with and currently face.

Witnessing the disparities present in Latino communities pushed me to attend college, and now, my education and involvement inspire me to give back. Through a career in law, I aspire to participate in editing and drafting legal scholarship analyzing gender and race intersections, supporting litigation with Chicago organizations, and providing pro bono legal representation for vulnerable clients. Attending law school and pursuing a career in law will continue my commitment to advocacy and desire to enact positive changes for marginalized communities.

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

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Salinas-Murillo.Diana_.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*