Psyched up for Law School

By Gary Vaughn for Texas Tech University | August 20, 2007

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While most 19-year olds are planning summer jobs or wild adventures to relieve the stress of college exams, Christina is working to send money home to help her mom with the mortgage.

Christina Martinez has a passion for making the world a better place and wants to pursue a career in criminal or immigration law. Originally from Chicago, she was raised in a Spanish speaking household, but her mom encouraged her to learn English as a second language to improve her opportunities. It was no problem for Christina to master another language and her mom has been quite an inspiration.

“My mom moved from job to job to get a raise,” she said. “She found that was the fastest way to get a promotion. I learned from her that you just don’t settle for what you get, and I don’t settle either.”

Recently, her mom’s company folded and closed its doors unexpectedly leaving her with a house payment, bills and two children to feed.

“I’ve always been good at adapting,” Christina said. “So I told her I would help out.”

This past semester, Christina has been sending money back to her mom while finishing up a bachelor’s degree at Texas Tech. She pays her own rent, bills and tuition with her job as a research clerk at Stewart Title in Lubbock. She usually doesn’t have money left to buy text books.

“I work to pay bills,” she said. “I can’t really afford to do anything else.”

Her grades haven’t suffered. She currently holds a 3.7 GPA and is hoping for a 4.0 semester finish. She said often times she would read the books in reserve in the library after she got off work.

“Some times I would buy the old editions for 10 or 20 bucks,” she said. “Fortunately for me, the only real difference in the editions I would get is the pictures.”

Some people have suggested to Christina that she should have attended a community college where costs were lower and classes were smaller. Again, she just would not give up on her dream.

“I didn’t want that level of education,” she said. “I deserve the benefits of a full university and I wasn’t going to settle for less because someone tells me I couldn’t afford it.”

Christina graduated high school early through a new International Baccelaurete program, a challenging and accelerated degree plan. It is more intense than the AP classes most students take. She has applied herself from the beginning and people have noticed.

“I worked for a judge when I was 16,” she said. “It was an honor to sit next to him on the bench, but it was also my job.”

Today, at the age of 19, life’s challenges have matured her 5’3” frame into a woman who stands tall and proud, despite her obstacles.

“I have enough hours for a bachelor’s degree, but I am working on a minor to get more experience before entering law school,” she said.

Christina spends countless hours on the Internet in the library looking for scholarship opportunities. She has been awarded a few scholarships from Texas Tech resources including the Ella McFadden Charitable Trust, the Ira and Johnny Jenkins Scholarship and the John Bayne Scholarship. And for those she is grateful.

“It’s amazing what I can do with a $500 scholarship,” she said. “I know how to stretch a dollar.”

She hopes to find another scholarship to help her pay for books in law school.

“It would be nice to be able to not work so much while in school,” she said. “It would be a nice break.”

Christina plans to press on and one day help less fortunate people better themselves through her work as a lawyer.

“Scholarship money will help me get to a high point so I can help society be better,” she said. “I won’t be mediocre. I just won’t do it.”