Sarah Medina Camiscoli ’12 is an assistant professor of law at Rutgers Law; her expertise lies at the intersection of constitutional law, education law and youth social movements. She earned a J.D. from Yale Law and an M.A. from Hunter School of Education. Previously, Medina Camiscoli taught as an Education Studies Fellow at the Yale Center for the Study of Race, Indigeneity, and Transnational Migration and practiced law as a Justice Catalyst Legal Fellow at Public Counsel. Before law school, she worked as a public school teacher and youth organizer in the South Bronx, where she founded IntegrateNYC — a youth-led organization that develops young leaders to repair the harms of segregation and build authentic integration and equity. Upon graduating from Yale, Medina Camiscoli co-founded the Peer Defense Project, which develops legal education, networks and technology to empower youth to fight injustice and transform the law.

Born and raised in New Jersey, she identifies as a proud first generation, LGBTQAI+ legal scholar–practitioner of the Puerto Rican diaspora.

What were you like when you arrived at Columbia?

As a first-generation College student, I was equal parts ambitious and uncertain. In my first two weeks, I took a job at a dorm laundry delivery service to try to make some extra cash and friends in other dorms. After my first load of laundry pummeled onto the sidewalk on 111th and Broadway and I spent my last $50 on a cover fee at a club in the Meatpacking District, I knew I was in over my head. To ground myself, I leaned in to a small cadre of friends from around the world who held me with care, curiosity and fearlessness. Over the last 15 years, the same people who helped me to ground my values and my vision for justice as a floundering freshman have helped to ground me as a K–12 classroom teacher, a civil rights attorney, a daughter, a sister and a partner.

What do you remember about your first-year living situation?

I remember my impeccably dressed roommate, my secret crush at the end of the hallway, friends sitting by my mini fridge, and heated debates about colonialism, diasporic identities and sexual autonomy that sprung from my anthropology lectures.

What Core class or experience do you most remember, and why?

I remember my Contemporary Civilization professor beaming with passion and clarity when she spoke about Hobbes and Rousseau and thinking that becoming a professor would bring me unbridled joy.

Did you have a favorite spot on campus, and what did you like about it?

During the winter of my senior year, I learned that one could watch the snow fall from the top floor of the International Affairs building in complete silence. Magic.

What, if anything, about your College experience would you do over?

I would have allowed myself to invest in more relationships and expand my community on campus. As a student, I often felt like I was on an academic treadmill, trying to run faster but not moving very much at all. I wish I would have understood that my well-being and community were more important than my course material and deserved much, much more of my time.