As a lawyer, she wants to play role in finding justice

Doris Umezulike will miss her mom at college, but she looks forward to “making my own choices.”

“I’m going off to University of Texas in two weeks. I’m going to be studying psychology. I want to become a criminal prosecutor. I’ve always admired lawyers and the thought of finding justice.

“Last summer I was invited to a law and advocacy program at Yale, and I just loved it. We got to try a murder case. On the day of the trial, you were either a lawyer in the morning or a witness or the defendant in the afternoon. I got to work both sides. The case was set in a redneck kind of town. Apparently, a lady’s husband killed someone, and she was trying to defend him by saying he’s not that type of guy. But everyone around was saying that he’s really violent to even his own wife and kids. I got to play the wife. I did this little country accent and everything, and the judge gave me good points for that. It was a lot of fun.

“We also learned a lot about ourselves, about how to be more of a leader and to be more independent. I learned that I can actually communicate with people better than I thought I could. I always considered myself a shy person, but that experience changed me. I thank my mom so much for letting me go there. Now, this is the only thing I want to do.”

— Doris Umezulike