The Power of Heritage, Hard Work and Grit in the Legal Profession
Less than 6 percent of lawyers in the U.S. are Hispanic. As a first-generation student, Real Estate attorney Lisette Guzman worked hard to become part of that number, earning a master's degree in education and later attending law school. In the process, she learned "the meaning of grit" that has enabled her to build a successful legal career through perseverance and determination.
Lisette Guzman: In the legal field, Hispanics only make up about 5.8 percent of lawyers. So just know, if you made it this far, anything is possible. You just keep on going. And that's really what the meaning of grit is.
I was a first-generation high school graduate, college and post-grad. I was also a teacher before that, and so I had my master's in education and then went to law school. So being the first in navigating those challenges and really trying to figure out what to do, how to get there, the ins and outs, I think that that's the biggest challenge. But luckily, I do feel that my background really helped, as far as seeing my mom work so hard and knowing that if you work hard, you can figure things out.
Hispanic Heritage Month, for me, is a time for all of us to recognize the immense contributions of all Latinos or Hispanics in the United States, which is a large number. We're talking about 68 million people. We're 20 percent of the total U.S. population. So it's really a time to recognize the contributions, the hard work and everything that the Latino community has contributed to the United States and celebrate that as one.