Samantha Holland
By becoming an attorney, I seek to further my ability to advocate for diverse populations in need, to fight policies that threaten human rights, and to be an agent for peace in the international community by promoting the equality of all human life.
In the years forming these ambitions, I found myself inspired by my faith, and assured by practice, to pursue a career wherein I could serve others. Above all, it was this motif of service that remained constant while my career aspirations fluctuated. I began my college education in the Natural Sciences, at Carroll College in Helena, Montana. While pursuing my studies, I also cared for the infants of young mothers in the Florence Crittenton home, accepted an internship working for the elderly with the Little Sisters of the Poor in Washington, D.C., and participated extensively in both the Catholic and non-denominational ministry opportunities available. As my professional interests matured and I returned to my home-town, Spokane, I continued my education at Eastern Washington University and began serving at my old youth group. Counseling the young women in my small group there threw me for a loop, challenging my ability to listen patiently and communicate complex ideas simply, and teaching me how important it was for each of these growing women to be heard. As a result of these opportunities, I began to develop a passion for advocacy.
Concurrently, the Humanities classes I pursued at EWU thrust international human rights conflicts to the forefront of my attention. I researched the transitional justice applied in Nepal, Timor-Leste, and Afghanistan and compared it to more localized restorative justice efforts enacted in Rwanda. I applied my research in my thesis, “A Comparison of the International Use of Transitional Justice and Restorative Justice, and Their Relevance to the Syrian Refugee Crisis,” and received EWU’s Yarwood Award for my efforts.
Law calls directly upon my passion for international social justice, which I hope to implement in a career at either the local level, helping immigrants and refugees to peacefully settle into their new community, or at the international level, reinstating rule of law in post-conflict societies with the full participation of their most vulnerable members. I will do what I can to help one person or issue at a time, and then accept my limits and theirs without guilt or blame. But I will not accept that I can do nothing to effect change for the better in the world.