{"id":3663,"date":"2018-10-23T16:14:39","date_gmt":"2018-10-23T20:14:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/?p=3663"},"modified":"2018-10-23T16:14:39","modified_gmt":"2018-10-23T20:14:39","slug":"learning-to-dream-bigger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/learning-to-dream-bigger\/","title":{"rendered":"Learning to Dream Bigger"},"content":{"rendered":"

When I made the difficult decision to leave a career as a middle school teacher to go to law school, I did it to chase what I thought of as big dreams.<\/p>\n

I had become increasingly frustrated by the limited reach that I had in my classroom, feeling powerless to address the many barriers my students faced outside the classroom. I was tired of teachers and students being treated like political footballs and as manifestations of different ideas rather than as individuals with different experiences and needs. I felt that to have a larger impact, to stop feeling powerless, I would need to work in some combination of law, politics, and policy.<\/p>\n

As I decided to submit an application to Temple, guided in large part by my interest in the Law and Public Policy Program<\/a>, I remember thinking that \u201cmaybe someday, maybe somehow I\u2019ll work in legislation in City Hall. Maybe someday\u2014maybe years from now\u2014I can make it that far.\u201d<\/p>\n

I was able to check that off my list while still a student in my second year of law school, working as a legislative intern for a City Councilperson. Before law school I may have thought I had big dreams, but the Law and Public Policy Program taught me to dream bigger.<\/p>\n

For my D.C. summer in the Program, I worked as a law clerk at the National Juvenile Defender Center. While my interests have primarily been in education policy, through this internship I learned to apply a broader children\u2019s rights lens to education issues, and was able to experience how much issues of education and juvenile justice can overlap. I was also able to research, write, and publish a resource on immigration and juvenile justice. This experience gave me valuable insights that informed the policy paper I wrote for the Program on school discipline reform. Through the combined experience of my internship and the seminar, I developed my ideas, practiced presenting them, and got ready for one of the highlights of my career so far: presenting my paper at an international conference with many of my Law and Public Policy classmates.<\/p>\n

In the Fall, I was introduced to City Hall for the first time through working on a collaborative project based on a topic identified by City Council staffers. My team worked on a project I was passionate about, and that began my connection with the City Council office I would then intern for in the Spring. The following summer, I returned to D.C. as the Teaching Assistant for the Program, and worked at the National Women\u2019s Law Center on their education-focused team. Through this experience, I was able to take the lead in developing my own projects. I also had the unique opportunity to testify before the Federal Commission on School Safety\u2014including in my testimony recommendations I had developed in my policy paper as well as in my own experience as a teacher. Coming to law school I had dreamed of someday having opportunities to impact local and national policy\u2014but I never expected to have those opportunities while still in law school.<\/p>\n

These opportunities did not come from nowhere, and I can easily envision being in a position where the opportunities (to speak and to publish, for example) may have existed but I would not have taken advantage of them. I entered law school a terrified public speaker\u2014fine as a teacher in front of children but not as an \u201cexpert\u201d on something in front of my peers. It was entirely because of Professor Knauer\u2019s guidance through the Program that I am not afraid to speak publicly to representatives of federal executive agencies. Another important part of the Program as run by Professor Knauer is individualized, comprehensive career guidance. I benefited from this one-on-one guidance not only in getting my dream internships, but in learning to navigate them to maximize the opportunities and experiences available.<\/p>\n

My experience at Temple has been driven in large part by my experience in the Law and Public Policy Program. Now in my third year of law school, I look forward to my future with some normal nerves, but also with a much larger idea of the opportunities that may be available to me than I had before law school. The Program gave me the feeling of empowerment, the feeling of being a director of my own fate, that I had been lacking in my former career.<\/p>\n

After the Program, I still have big dreams, but they look different than they did when I started law school. And as time goes on, the word \u201cmaybe\u201d features in those dreams less and less.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I made the difficult decision to leave a career as a middle school teacher to go to law school, I did it to chase what I thought of as big dreams. I had become increasingly frustrated by the limited reach that I had in my classroom, feeling powerless to address the many barriers my students faced outside the classroom. I was tired of teachers and students being treated like political footballs and as manifestations of different ideas rather than as individuals with different experiences and needs. I felt that to have a larger impact, to stop feeling powerless, I would need to work in some combination of law, politics, and policy. As I decided to submit an application to Temple, guided in large part by my interest in the Law and Public Policy Program, I remember thinking that \u201cmaybe someday, maybe somehow I\u2019ll work in legislation in City Hall. Maybe someday\u2014maybe years from now\u2014I can make it that far.\u201d I was able to check that off my list while still a student in my …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":3667,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[90],"tags":[5,326],"audience":[],"coauthors":[756,1066],"class_list":["post-3663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-student-commentary","tag-featured","tag-temple-law-and-public-policy-program"],"yoast_head":"\r\nLearning to Dream Bigger - Voices at Temple<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/learning-to-dream-bigger\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Learning to Dream Bigger - Voices at Temple\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When I made the difficult decision to leave a career as a middle school teacher to go to law school, I did it to chase what I thought of as big dreams. I had become increasingly frustrated by the limited reach that I had in my classroom, feeling powerless to address the many barriers my students faced outside the classroom. I was tired of teachers and students being treated like political footballs and as manifestations of different ideas rather than as individuals with different experiences and needs. I felt that to have a larger impact, to stop feeling powerless, I would need to work in some combination of law, politics, and policy. As I decided to submit an application to Temple, guided in large part by my interest in the Law and Public Policy Program, I remember thinking that \u201cmaybe someday, maybe somehow I\u2019ll work in legislation in City Hall. Maybe someday\u2014maybe years from now\u2014I can make it that far.\u201d I was able to check that off my list while still a student in my …\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/learning-to-dream-bigger\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Voices at Temple\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-10-23T20:14:39+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/035Noelia_Rivera_Temple_2017-1024x683.jpg\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"683\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Noelia Rivera-Calder\u00f3n LAW '19, Amber Bethune\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Noelia Rivera-Calder\u00f3n LAW '19, Amber Bethune\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www2.law.temple.edu\\\/voices\\\/learning-to-dream-bigger\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www2.law.temple.edu\\\/voices\\\/learning-to-dream-bigger\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Amber Bethune\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www2.law.temple.edu\\\/voices\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/141d3fbdbb98710ce0925aefbd0e23c0\"},\"headline\":\"Learning to Dream Bigger\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-10-23T20:14:39+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www2.law.temple.edu\\\/voices\\\/learning-to-dream-bigger\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":783,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www2.law.temple.edu\\\/voices\\\/learning-to-dream-bigger\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www2.law.temple.edu\\\/voices\\\/cms\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/10\\\/035Noelia_Rivera_Temple_2017.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Featured\",\"Temple Law and Public Policy Program\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Student Commentary\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www2.law.temple.edu\\\/voices\\\/learning-to-dream-bigger\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www2.law.temple.edu\\\/voices\\\/learning-to-dream-bigger\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www2.law.temple.edu\\\/voices\\\/learning-to-dream-bigger\\\/\",\"name\":\"Learning to Dream Bigger - Voices at Temple\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www2.law.temple.edu\\\/voices\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www2.law.temple.edu\\\/voices\\\/learning-to-dream-bigger\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www2.law.temple.edu\\\/voices\\\/learning-to-dream-bigger\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www2.law.temple.edu\\\/voices\\\/cms\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/10\\\/035Noelia_Rivera_Temple_2017.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-10-23T20:14:39+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www2.law.temple.edu\\\/voices\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/141d3fbdbb98710ce0925aefbd0e23c0\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www2.law.temple.edu\\\/voices\\\/learning-to-dream-bigger\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www2.law.temple.edu\\\/voices\\\/learning-to-dream-bigger\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www2.law.temple.edu\\\/voices\\\/learning-to-dream-bigger\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www2.law.temple.edu\\\/voices\\\/cms\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/10\\\/035Noelia_Rivera_Temple_2017.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www2.law.temple.edu\\\/voices\\\/cms\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/10\\\/035Noelia_Rivera_Temple_2017.jpg\",\"width\":3600,\"height\":2400},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www2.law.temple.edu\\\/voices\\\/learning-to-dream-bigger\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www2.law.temple.edu\\\/voices\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Learning to Dream Bigger\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www2.law.temple.edu\\\/voices\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www2.law.temple.edu\\\/voices\\\/\",\"name\":\"Voices at Temple\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www2.law.temple.edu\\\/voices\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www2.law.temple.edu\\\/voices\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/141d3fbdbb98710ce0925aefbd0e23c0\",\"name\":\"Amber Bethune\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f1a31f336623ec644509e5106016d06557db8b0813f6c98de352ce8759f859cd?s=96&d=mm&r=g49f6eed04a5dcf74b19c4274c59af23c\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f1a31f336623ec644509e5106016d06557db8b0813f6c98de352ce8759f859cd?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f1a31f336623ec644509e5106016d06557db8b0813f6c98de352ce8759f859cd?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Amber Bethune\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www2.law.temple.edu\\\/voices\\\/author\\\/tug31039\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\r\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Learning to Dream Bigger - Voices at Temple","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/learning-to-dream-bigger\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Learning to Dream Bigger - Voices at Temple","og_description":"When I made the difficult decision to leave a career as a middle school teacher to go to law school, I did it to chase what I thought of as big dreams. I had become increasingly frustrated by the limited reach that I had in my classroom, feeling powerless to address the many barriers my students faced outside the classroom. I was tired of teachers and students being treated like political footballs and as manifestations of different ideas rather than as individuals with different experiences and needs. I felt that to have a larger impact, to stop feeling powerless, I would need to work in some combination of law, politics, and policy. As I decided to submit an application to Temple, guided in large part by my interest in the Law and Public Policy Program, I remember thinking that \u201cmaybe someday, maybe somehow I\u2019ll work in legislation in City Hall. Maybe someday\u2014maybe years from now\u2014I can make it that far.\u201d I was able to check that off my list while still a student in my …","og_url":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/learning-to-dream-bigger\/","og_site_name":"Voices at Temple","article_published_time":"2018-10-23T20:14:39+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":683,"url":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/035Noelia_Rivera_Temple_2017-1024x683.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Noelia Rivera-Calder\u00f3n LAW '19, Amber Bethune","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Noelia Rivera-Calder\u00f3n LAW '19, Amber Bethune","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/learning-to-dream-bigger\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/learning-to-dream-bigger\/"},"author":{"name":"Amber Bethune","@id":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/#\/schema\/person\/141d3fbdbb98710ce0925aefbd0e23c0"},"headline":"Learning to Dream Bigger","datePublished":"2018-10-23T20:14:39+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/learning-to-dream-bigger\/"},"wordCount":783,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/learning-to-dream-bigger\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/035Noelia_Rivera_Temple_2017.jpg","keywords":["Featured","Temple Law and Public Policy Program"],"articleSection":["Student Commentary"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/learning-to-dream-bigger\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/learning-to-dream-bigger\/","url":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/learning-to-dream-bigger\/","name":"Learning to Dream Bigger - Voices at Temple","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/learning-to-dream-bigger\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/learning-to-dream-bigger\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/035Noelia_Rivera_Temple_2017.jpg","datePublished":"2018-10-23T20:14:39+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/#\/schema\/person\/141d3fbdbb98710ce0925aefbd0e23c0"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/learning-to-dream-bigger\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/learning-to-dream-bigger\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/learning-to-dream-bigger\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/035Noelia_Rivera_Temple_2017.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/035Noelia_Rivera_Temple_2017.jpg","width":3600,"height":2400},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/learning-to-dream-bigger\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Learning to Dream Bigger"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/","name":"Voices at Temple","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/#\/schema\/person\/141d3fbdbb98710ce0925aefbd0e23c0","name":"Amber Bethune","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f1a31f336623ec644509e5106016d06557db8b0813f6c98de352ce8759f859cd?s=96&d=mm&r=g49f6eed04a5dcf74b19c4274c59af23c","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f1a31f336623ec644509e5106016d06557db8b0813f6c98de352ce8759f859cd?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f1a31f336623ec644509e5106016d06557db8b0813f6c98de352ce8759f859cd?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Amber Bethune"},"url":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/author\/tug31039\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/035Noelia_Rivera_Temple_2017.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3663"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3663\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3668,"href":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3663\/revisions\/3668"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3663"},{"taxonomy":"audience","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/audience?post=3663"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=3663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}