Compelled To Make a Difference

While interning at the Bronx County Supreme Court under Justice La Tia W. Martin during summer of 2014, Jaycee Parker CC’16 was entrusted with much of the responsibility of coordinating the Summer Justice Academy for Young Women. The two-week intensive program is designed to introduce underserved female high school students to careers in law. The assignment, as well as the more routine administrative tasks she undertook in Martin’s chambers, allowed Parker to interact with attorneys, judges, professors and other professionals in the field.

In the process, Parker, who has an interest in criminal justice, became aware of career paths in subfields of law she had yet to consider. Realizing how versatile a law degree can be cemented her decision to pursue law school. “That was key for me, to see that there are many different ways to practice law or use a law degree to help people and work on different issues,” she says.

I feel very strongly about what I envision for my life now, which is to help eradicate the problematic criminal justice issues that affect African-Americans.

In tandem with her other experiences as an undergraduate — during summer 2014 she also interned at the New York County District Attorney’s Office and she is majoring in psychology with a concentration in African-American studies — the internship at the Bronx County Supreme Court helped Parker identify a career objective: “I feel very strongly about what I envision for my life now, which is to help eradicate the problematic criminal justice issues that affect African-Americans,” she says.

Founded by Martin in 2009, the Summer Justice Academy is open to students in New York City and Westchester County. The program is hosted by Pace University Law School in White Plains, N.Y., and consists of speaker presentations and field trips. Parker’s tasks included reviewing applications, scheduling speakers and making sure the participants — between 40 and 50 students take part in the program each year — got from point A to point B. The program concludes with a day trip to Washington, D.C., which Parker also helped plan.

Since then, Parker has kept in touch with Martin and court attorney Dafina Cobbinah, whom she considers mentors. For Parker, working with fellow women of color was empowering: “I think it’s important for young people to see people who look like them in positions they aspire to be in,” she says. “It gave me the sense that this is something I can achieve.”

Parker, who runs track and field at Columbia, was in turn happy to help demystify college for the young women participating in the program: “I really enjoyed working with them and being able to tell them about my own journey,” she says.

Born in Atlanta and raised in Denison, Texas, by her mother, Parker says it was only thanks to support from the College’s Alumni and Parent Internship Fund that she was able to accept the internship. Open to recipients of grant-based financial aid, APIF covers meals, housing and transportation in order to allow students to pursue meaningful unpaid or low-wage internships. Parker was the recipient of the 2014 Sharon and Peter Grossman Family Internship Fund.

Without that funding, says Parker, “I would not have been able to take on the internship, which has helped me focus my career goals. I am extremely grateful.”