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Have you ever considered a career as an attorney? Have you ever wondered what types of career paths you can follow as an attorney? Are you looking for inspiration to join the legal profession? Look no further! Our partners at Austin Bar Association and Austin Young Lawyer’s Association’s Leadership Academy put together a documentary last fall, exploring the different ways you can become part of the legal field and have provided us with some insight from one of their chairs, Meghan Kempf. We greatly appreciate the work our partners do on behalf of Texas YG, and wanted to re-share this resource as students and advisors prepare for upcoming District Conferences next month!

This year a group of 25 attorneys were selected to participate in the Austin Bar Association and Austin Young Lawyer’s Association’s Leadership Academy. As part of their group project they created a short film documentary titled Law: A Profession of Service with the goal to inspire future leaders with an interest in pursuing careers as attorneys. The judges and attorneys in the film include:  Honorable Robert Pitman, Honorable Wallace Jefferson, Honorable Laura Livingston, Dr. Sarah Weddington, Senator Kirk Watson, Berry Crowley, Frank King, and Dirk Jordan.  Each of these leaders have had a significant impact on different local, national, and international communities through their legal work.

One of the 2018 Leadership Academy’s chairs and former 2016 participant in the program is Meghan Kempf. She graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 2008 and St. Mary’s University School of Law in 2012. We asked her a few questions on what inspired her to serve with her law degree and continue to serve in her career. She was the 2018 recipient of the Austin Young Lawyer’s Outstanding Young Lawyer’s award and is currently Staff Counsel at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC).

What type of work do you do with HHSC?  

“I work on the policy team in the Office of the Chief Counsel for HHSC, advise the HHSC staff on the meaning of relevant laws and assist in interpreting legislation for public assistance programs. I primarily work in the areas of women’s health, family violence services, and Medicaid service delivery for children in state conservatorship.”

What was your first job out of law school?

“My first job after graduation was an Equal Justice Works Fellow for Family Violence Prevention Services, Inc. in San Antonio. They fund legal aid projects nationwide to serve unmet needs in local communities. My fellowship focused on providing advocacy for survivors of domestic violence and education resources to community partners, including law enforcement and direct service providers.”

As an attorney, why do you think it is important to serve?

“Attorneys have a unique ability to help people understand and utilize the laws that their representatives have created to govern their lives. To enable people to reach their full potential and dignity is a true privilege and helps our communities to progress to include everyone.”

Do you think that youth involved in the YMCA YG programs can start serving while pursuing a career in politics or as an attorney?

“Absolutely, serving in a representative capacity is the very definition of serving others. The focus on service helps us to remember the true purpose of representation and community discourse, and the value of brining multiple viewpoints to the table.”

 Watching the video, Law: A Profession of Service, what inspiration do you take from it and what do you think the students can take from it?

“Watching the video reminds me of all the different ways a person can be inspired to join the legal profession. There are so many diverse ways to serve and needs to be met in the community. For the students, find something that is your passion and there will be many opportunities to serve and pursue a meaningful career.”

On behalf of the 2018 Leadership Academy Class, I invite you to watch our film, Law: A Profession of Service, to see if you draw inspiration to serve others and see the impact you can have in your pursuit of a career in the legal profession.

We are proud that the YMCA Youth and Government programs are going to share these words of wisdom with the incredible children in their programs and hope to see them develop into leaders with a passion for service to others as they follow their dreams.

Congratulations to Kaden Gould, the first winner in our drawing for an Amazon gift card!

Kaden won a $20 gift card from Amazon for completing our pre-program survey. It is important for students to complete the survey because it helps the State Office continue to improve the program. Every student that completed the survey between the beginning of registration through October 14th was entered for a chance to win.

Still haven’t completed the pre-program survey? Would you like a $20 Amazon gift card? Lucky for you, students have one more chance to win a gift card. If you completed the survey between October 15th through November 8th, you will be entered into a second drawing. We will draw a name on Monday November 11th and inform you who the lucky winner is.

So ready to win a gift card? Go here to complete our survey. And a HUGE thank you to all the students who have completed the survey so far. We are excited to have received over 500 responses so far, your input is vital to our program development.

Have a question about this year’s Judicial case? Don’t fear, the State Office is here to answer all of them!

Please submit all questions that you have about the case by October 21st. At that time, the State Office will review and post the answers under the Judicial section of our website. Some questions have already been submitted, you can review them here or in the Judicial section. Please email any additional questions to Breanna Tuck at [email protected]. We can’t wait to hear about how everyone handles the case next month at District!

Today is the last day of our Constitution Day Fundraiser and this is your last chance to go here to donate. We also want to thank everyone who has taken the time to read about our fundraiser and to donate. To wrap things up, we have two more officer profiles we would like to share with you. See below to learn about Texas Youth Governor Tadiwa Mujokoto ’20 and Secretary of State Divyam Bansal ’20.

Happy Friday! Hopefully everyone enjoyed their week and are excited about the weekend ahead! We have extended our Constitution Day Fundraiser until October 4th, and you can learn about the fundraiser and donate here. See below for an introduction to our Photojournalism Editor Riley Wheaton ’20 and Lieutenant Governor Alexander Searles ’20.

As we said in the beginning of the week, we talked to our officers and asked them about what the U.S. Constitution means to them. We received some thoughtful and incredible responses and we will continue to share them with you throughout our Constitution Day Fundraiser. Read about our Chief Justice Sebastiane Caballes ’20 and our State Affairs Form Chair Nikash Harapanahalli ’20. And be sure to check out our donate page here to see how you contribute to our program!

Happy Constitution Day everyone! The U.S. Constitution turns 232 years today and what better way to celebrate than donating to our Constitution Day fundraiser? You can donate anytime at this link here.

On May 25, 1787, delegates from all thirteen states gathered to form the Constitutional Convention and to discuss creating a new form of government. James Madison, known as the Father of the Constitution, wrote a draft that he proposed at the beginning of the convention. The men of the convention would then spend the next four months debating over the document and making edits to it. And then, on September 15, 1787, a final version was agreed upon and Jacob Shallus wrote out the final product.

Then on this day in 1787, thirty nine delegates from the Constitutional Convention gathered at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, PA. Starting with George Washington, they gathered in a line and signed a new and revolutionary document that would determine the structure of the American government. The U.S. Constitution was then submitted to the states for ratification. It wasn’t until nearly a year later, on June 21, 1788, that New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution, making the document official and valid.

Some people thought the U.S. Constitution may only last 100 or 150 years. However, 232 years later it is still the backbone of our democracy. We asked our students what they thought about the U.S. Constitution and have been posting some of their responses which you can see in our recent blog posts. Below, you can see a fun fact about the U.S. Constitution that was given to us by a student. Be sure to contribute to our fundraiser and enjoy your Constitution Day!

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“Jacob Shallus, the man that was paid to write the official copy of the U.S. Constitution, was paid $30.00 for his services. Today, that translates to $810.81.” – Charis Maxwell ’20, Fort Worth District

We asked our new officers for the 2019-2020 program year what they thought of the U.S. Constitution. Over the next couple of weeks, we will share those answers with you, as well as some other fun information about our officers! Below you can read about Attorney General London Jones ’21 and Broadcast Producer Amy Ekechukwu ’20. And don’t forget to go here to donate to our fundraiser!

As we said in our previous post, the U.S. Constitution is important to Texas Youth and Government for a wide variety of reasons. It lays out the framework for the program’s government and allows our media students to execerise their First Amendment rights.

We asked some of our student leaders to reflect on what the U.S. Constitution means to them. See below for their responses and don’t forget to donate here to our fundraiser!

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“God give, hand written, and people driven.”

I believe this saying encompasses the essence of the Constitution. At it’s core, the constituting document of our great nation is a series of God granted rights that every human should have. Secondly, it was conceived and written by great leaders who used their knowledge of history to solve future issues. Lastly, the Constitution is not a tool of government to control the people, but a tool ordained by the people to protect the people from the government. – Griffin ’21, Fort Worth District

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Our Founding Fathers put a lot on the line for our freedom. The fact that Americans have a historical document that holds true to modern day culture is priceless. The Bill of Rights is something I believe every citizen should hold dear. Other countries fight for the democracy and freedoms that Americans often take for granted. Our undeniable rights are those that our Funding Fathers fought for at a hefty cost.

To me, the Constitution has been an inspiration for my time with the YMCA Texas Youth and Government program. It is a document that helps Americans hold their own in a world where originality is sometimes limited. It allows us to live unchained from the bonds that held us in history, and stands as a reminder for our nation’s ideals. It gives us the rights to voice our opinions and the privilege to make a difference in our nation through our right to vote. – Mikayla Pastrano ’21, Austin District