Current and Past Fellows

Paige Hoskins

Paige Hoskins will graduate in Spring, 2022 from University of Washington Tacoma with a Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice. She want to go to law school so that she can not only continue her education but work towards a way of making a difference in our world. She hopes to go to law school at the University of Washington School of Law or Gonzaga University School of Law. After which, she wants to enter the legal field and become a criminal prosecutor. In her own words, “Legal Pathways has already helped me in so many ways to achieve my goals, I’ve been given the opportunity to take a Kaplan LSAT study course, I’ve been connected with a mentor who is a prosecuting attorney for Pierce Country, and countless books, resources, and seminars to help prepare me for filing out applications, and later how to choose the best law school for me.”

Selena Caldera

Selena Caldera will graduate from UW Tacoma in June of 2022, with a major in Law & Policy and a minor in Labor Studies. She wishes to join the profession of law in order to be able to be a more effective advocate for people in legal difficulties or who are being taken advantage of by a lack of familiarity with the law. She dreams of Yale or Stanford, but plans on attending the law school which offers to best prepare me for future work as a lawyer and affords me the best chance of becoming the skilled practitioner she aims fto be. She is particularly interested in employment law and housing law - protecting low-income workers from being taken advantage of by their employers or unjustly evicted.

"The Legal Pathway Fellows program has helped me to consider my aspirations as possible - as a person with multiple marginalizations and barriers, economic and otherwise, even the possibility of entering this field initially seemed daunting. However, the support, advice, and guidance with the LSAT, applications, and the multiple difficulties along the way has prepared me to the point that I can hold my ground with other entering students, and has given me the confidence to 'reach for the stars'."

Dan Yun

Daniel Yun will graduate from UW Tacoma at the end of Spring 2022 with a Criminal Justice major. He hopes to go to law school at University of Washington School of Law because of how University of Washington’s educational standards tailors their students to their full potential.

“The Legal Pathways Fellows program assisted me in learning everything I needed to know to attend law school. I was admitted into University of Washington Tacoma with more questions about law school than answers. The lack of knowledge I had compared to my competitors of potential law students made me fearful and pushed away the idea of even applying for law school. If it was not for this program, I would not have been able to push my full potential.”

Liliana Caracoza Lopez

Liliana Caracoza graduated from UW Tacoma in 2017, where she majored in Criminal Justice. She hopes to one day go on to work internationally in the field of human rights, an area she is passionate about.

“The Legal Pathways Fellows has given me confidence in studying for the rigorous LSAT, something that last year felt impossible. Navigating my way to law school alone was an uphill battle, but now I am confident that I will make it. I have the opportunity to meet with mentors in my field of interest, giving me a chance for support and guidance. I feel like every step in the program has been preparing me for the person I want to be.” 

Aidan Helt

Aidan Helt grew up on a small island called Ketchikan Alaska. She studied business and economics at UW Tacoma is and currently working on her MBA, expecting to graduate in the summer of 2023. Afterwhich completing her MBA, she hopes to be accepted to either UW Seattle Law or Seattle University School of Law.

Brian Weekman

Brian Weekman will graduate from UW Tacoma in the spring of 2022 with a degree in Social Welfare. In his own words, “I am a single father and reentry student who at 48 decided that the best way to provide a better life for my daughter and myself was to return to achieve a higher education. There has been so much growth from that moment to the present. In less than a year I will be graduating University with the hopes of attending law school come autumn 2022. My story truly shows what life changes can occur when one has access to higher education.” He hopes to go on to Seattle University School of Law or University of Washington School of Law.

Aliyah Jones

Aliyah Jones graduated from the University of Washington Tacoma in 2019 with a B.A. in Criminal Justice. She hopes to attend the University of Washington School of Law or Seattle University School of Law and eventually go on to practice criminal defense. She hopes to ultimately run her own firm and partner with a non-profit organization to provide scholarships and break down barriers to legal education for underrepresented communities.

Aliyah grew up watching television shows, documentaries, and movies about the law and lawyers but quickly noticed that most of the lawyers she saw on the TV or off did not represent her or her community as an African American. As she grew, she saw more and more how African Americans were not only underrepresented in the legal community but also over represented in the criminal justice system itself with significant racial disproportionality in incarceration. The more she came to understand this injustice, the more her passion for criminal justice reform grew. She hopes to create equality in the courtroom and provide representation for underserved communities.

Kevin Yuan-Jie Liu

Kevin Yuan-Jie Liu will graduate from UW Tacoma in March 2022 with a BA in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics. He hopes to pursue contract law and learn more about intellectual property enforcement, eventually assisting people and companies about new creative materials.

Florie Arenas

Florie Arenas will graduate from the UW Tacoma at the end of the fall quarter, 2021 with a BA in Business Administration Finance. She has always been fascinated by how the law works and how it affects people, as well as with the many ways laws can be interpreted. She is not sure where she hopes to go to law school but is hoping to gain admission to University of Washington or the University of California.

Daniela Olvera-Sanchez

Daniela Olvera-Sanchez graduated from UW Tacoma in June of 2021 with a BA after majoring in Criminal Justice. She wants to go to law school because she believes the work will be fulfilling and looks forward to helping others while also being intellectually challenged. She hopes to stay in the South Sound area and is considering both University of Washington School of Law and Seattle University School of Law. She looks forward to exploring criminal or constitutional law but can also see herself becoming a family law attorney.

“The Legal Pathways Fellows program has already helped so much! From free LSAT classes to informational workshops and even mentors that they specifically pick for you and your goals. I’ve been paired with two different mentors in this program and I could not have asked for better ones -- they are all truly passionate about their work and helping others get to where they want to be. I truly believe that this program has made the journey much easier than it would have been otherwise and I trust that it will help me accomplish everything I’m working toward!”

Benguisu Cicek

Bengisu Cicek will graduate from UWT in June of 2022. She majored in Law & Policy with a minor in Near Eastern Languages & Civilization.  She would like to go to law school because she wants to have an impact in people’s lives through the legal system. She also wants to change the legal system so that it is more just towards everyone. She wants to be the change that she would like to see, and to be the representation that sge would be inspired from. She hopes to focus on international law as well as human rights. She believes there’s so much to be done to advocate for justice globally, and that there are many opportunities in multiple countries.

Karla Vargas

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