DANIELLE HOPKINS

Barnard College

2022 wasquiteanexcitingand challengingyear for me I continued working asaclient advocateat theHarrisCounty PublicDefender?sofficeherein Houston,Texas My work asaclient advocatereally variesfromday today Oneday I will spendthreeplushoursinthejail visitingclientsandgetting documentssigned,thenext I will bewithacoworker drivingaroundtownas weassist aclient transitioningintoasubstanceusetreatment program,and other daysI never leavemy desk asI check emailsandmakephonecalls What hasbeenchallengingabout thisroleisthat most of thetimeclientsdo not get favorableoutcomesintheir casesand asaresult so many aspectsof their livesareimpacted Therearesomedaysfilledwithamazingnewsof chargesbeingdroppedand clientsreunitedwithfamilies,but most endwith sentencesor heavy parolerequirementsthat makeit impossibletomoveon fromtheir case Despitetheseemotional highsandlowsI really amso grateful tobeinthispositionandworkinginthisroleasit haspreparedme well for my futurecareer asapublicdefender.I alsogot theopportunity to beaguest onapodcast PublicDefenselesswhereI spokeabout my jobas anadvocateand theHarrisCounty PublicDefender'sOffice It wasmy first timeonapodcast and it wasareally cool experience

Besideswork,alot of thisyear I spent onmy law school applications I re-took theLSATtwotimesand finally finishedapplyingtoall my schoolsby December 1st.I havebegunhearingback fromafew andso far havebeen very excitedby thenews Just thisweek I foundout I wasaccepted into NYU School of Law! I amso grateful for thesupport I receivedfrommy mentors,professors,friendsand family duringthisprocess AndI alsoam grateful for thesupport andopportunitiesMVYouthprovidedme throughout my four yearsof undergradand beyond.