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When Ivana Bailey-Muñoz (LAW 2nd Year) was volunteering at Chicago-Kent College of Law’s Self-Help Resource Center at the Richard J. Daley Center in downtown Chicago, she helped a father and daughter gain access to their bank account, which had been mistakenly frozen by their bank. The hold had been requested as part of a court order.

“They were scared and confused because they were unaware of any legal proceedings that led to the court order,” she says. “I determined that the bank had frozen the wrong company’s assets, after calling the bank and getting it addressed, this family could go home knowing that all would be well again.”

Moments like these—when she gets to help people—remind Ivana why she gave up teaching children after five years to pursue her J.D.

“I loved being a teacher,” she says, “but I was interested in public policy in urban education and furthering my personal academic growth.”

Her interest in higher education led her to researching schools in Chicago, and soon enough, she was visiting ������̳’s Conviser Law Center for a tour.

“After I visited Chicago-Kent, there was no doubt that this was the school for me,” she says. “Everyone was very kind, and it seemed to emphasize community and the well-being of students and the opportunities for a career afterward.”

Now that she’s here, Ivana is taking full advantage of everything that Chicago-Kent has to offer. She’s the current secretary of the Student Bar Association, teaching assistant for property and torts, a board member of the Hispanic Latinx Law Student Association, member of the First-Generation Law Student Association, and is receiving mentoring through the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity.

“I told myself I wasn’t going to say no to anything in law school,” she says. “That’s how my interests veered toward litigating, and hopefully, being someone that advocates for policy change.”

With the assistance of the Office of Career Development and Professionalism, she secured an internship with the ACLU of Illinois that provided one avenue for exploration.

“Being a first-generation student, I didn’t really know what the process of applying to internships was going to look like,” she says. “I don’t think the [ACLU of Illinois] internship would have been possible without the career services advisers prepping me for interviews or editing my resume and cover letters.”

 She continues, “My professors are genuine and well-intentioned. They take the time to ensure we understand the material and develop personal relationships with their students.”

Ivana one day hopes that she may be able to take their kindness and pay it forward.

“After practicing law, I may want to be a law professor,” she says. “I don’t know if that’s what I really want to do, but I never would have considered it had it not been for Chicago-Kent.”