April 04, 2023
I attend Central Michigan University, where I study law and economics, otherwise known as pre-law. I decided to go into this field because, growing up in Detroit, I witnessed a lot of injustices and developed a passion for helping people. I saw many people get introduced and pulled into the wrong things because of the environment they grew up in or who they surrounded themselves with. The things I witnessed firsthand only increased my interest in law, which I’ve had since I was a kid. I’ve always enjoyed reading and learning about laws to understand my surroundings better. Like many, I could watch law and criminal shows for hours and get completely drawn in. Throughout school, I’ve also been told I am good at debating, which I learned would be great for this field.
As I got older, my interest in law morphed from something I knew of to something more personal. A very close friend I’ve known for years hung around people involved in bad things, which caused him to get into trouble even though he had nothing to do with it. It was a case of wrong place, wrong time. Seeing this, I wanted to help. I started researching and found out many people are sentenced to prison for things they are innocent of, so it became my mission to help with civil injustices.
From there, I continued to do research and took a particular interest in immigration law because it is a topic that people don’t very talk about often. It was interesting to me because not only was it different, but it also expanded my horizon with how many people I could actually help.
Written by Jason Philpot-Dixon, Spring 2023 Let’s Detroit Campus Ambassador
