A Spanish-American woman and an attorney with dual US-Spanish citizenship, I now seek to broaden my career on an international level and prepare myself for service with a global, European-based, non-governmental organization, serving as an advocate for the rights of the elderly. Thus, I seek to earn an LLM Degree from a European Program emphasizing international law. I would be incredibly honored to be accepted to the Master of Laws Program at Leiden University because of the comprehensive nature of your overview of comparative legal systems and your priority attention to human rights.
I seek to earn my LLM Degree with the kind of Euro-centered focus found at XXXX: EU competition law, EU external relations law, etc. because I look forward to an EU–related legal career. I appreciate the small seminar-style classes at Leiden, with students making class presentations exchanging ideas, and helping one another to develop their research, and later submitting to pleadings. I look forward to the annual study trip to institutions in Strasbourg, Luxembourg, and Brussels, and I appreciate the connections that exist between XXXX University and a wide variety of European institutions that allow students to see what options exist and where they want to go. Most of all, I see XXXX as the best place for a complete immersion in research and learning how to research the cutting edge. I want very much to understand better how Brussels, Luxembourg, and Strasbourg work.
My central professional goal after completing the LLM Degree at XXXX is to go to work for an international or European, non-governmental organization, advocating on behalf of the elderly. I believe that the program at XXXX would further these goals because it would provide me with an invaluable opportunity to study and understand the European and international legal frameworks concerning human rights and how these laws work in a natural life setting; I can imagine no better place to learn about and understand the concept and historical context of these rights than in Europe, the birthplace of human rights. While I have never been to Leiden, I have read about and seen pictures of its beauty, with its picturesque canals, parks, and gardens. I like the fact that the weather in XXXX and throughout South Holland is mild throughout the year.
I have lived in the United States for most of my lifetime, but I also spent 20+ summers in Spain and a full year there with my children from 1997-1998. A native speaker/writer of Spanish as well as English, I am also proficient in French. Earning my LLM at the University of XXXX would enable me to most fully realize my central professional goals by providing me with an invaluable opportunity to study and become familiar with European and international legal frameworks concerning human rights and how these laws work in natural life settings. I watch with horror as the American President-Elect Trump tries to feed off of the energy of Brexit,t and I long to return to the academic community so as to participate in the intense debates of our time, over politics, economic progress, and human rights. My interest in the elderly includes the protection of elderly migrants and refugee,s which will provide me with something of great importance to contribute to discussions of human rights law at XXXX.
In addition to learning from the faculty, it will be a great pleasure to learn from the sheer diversity of students at XXXX and colleagues concerned with human rights from every corner of the planet. Returning to professional studies after a long absence from the academic community and an intense immersion experience in proactive, cutting-edge thinking on the human-rights issues of our day will invigorate and rejuvenate me to make my maximum contribution to society.
Having been raised in two cultures and two languages and traveled extensively throughout my life, interfacing with people from all over the world has helped me to develop very friendly, compassionate, and respectful. I truly enjoy communicating and working with people from all backgrounds and ages. By the time I finish my professional career in law, in another two decades or so, I will be elderly myself, timed perfectly as I see it, to make the most of those 20 years, helping people with common interests in a Grey Panther-like manner, in solidarity. As I see it, older people need to defend themselves first and foremost. I believe that I would fit in very well at Leiden, and look forward to being part of such an international community, growing together as human beings and legal professionals.
I did not earn my JD Degree until after my family was already raised. I thought more about making a difference in the world than just making a living. I wanted to prepare myself for a life of service to the most vulnerable and underserved members of our society, advocating on their behalf. Not long after passing the New York Bar, however, my immediate family was struck by disease,e and I soon found myself devoting a large part of my energy to the physical and emotional care of both my sister-in-law and father-in-law. II would continue to do so throughout the final years of their lives. At the same time, I also found myself called to serve as a primary care manager for my own elderly parents afflicted with a variety of ailments and physical limitations. I am proud of my service to my family, and thankful for the professional direction that these experiences have provided me in my quest to become a recognized expert and a move,r, and a shaker in the area of human rights law as it affects the elderly. I am now very well-read in the size of the legal protection of the elderly, and have had several opportunities to act as an advocate on their behalf. As I am well aware of the multiple forms of discrimination that older people face, I find protecting their human rights to be especially rewarding and fulfilling on personal and professional levels.
I have expanded my mediation training and became certified as a mediator in Ohioans Florida. I have also had the opportunity to do freelance legal work abroad in the area of property law. During my time as a law student, I was also very much involved in the Women’s Immigrant Rights Law Clinic, helping victims of human trafficking and advocating on their behalf. In my work as a mediator as well, I deal with many cases of divorce and other family issues, including domestic violence.
I want to put my LLM Degree from XXXX to work,k opening doors that will allow me to have a significant impact on policy formation on an international level, and to raise awareness of the evils of elder abuse and neglect, positioning myself in such a way as to engage citizens and policymakers to take action to minimize all types of abuse and neglect that affect older people: psychological, physical, financial, etc. - active or passive. I want to be at the forefront of exploring how to enhance our protection of older people’s rights within the context of existing human rights standards, implementing such protections in both public and private sectors. I would also like to create programs to educate the elderly so that they can become more aware of their legal rights, and to enable and empower them to protect their capacity to exercise these rights.
It is imperative to use legal research as a tool geared toward progressive social change in the area of elder care and protection – resulting in the enhanced international debate concerning the human rights of older persons. I also believe that there needs to be an increased advocacy for the adoption of international human rights standards that adequately address the issue of elder rights by focusing on the contributions of older people.
Older people face genuine challenges in terms of human rights. These include discrimination, poverty, violence as well as abuse, all too often at the hands of family members—Manyneedf our solidarity, new, specific measures,s and services designed to protect their interests and well-being. I look forward to intense research for the balance of my professional life in this area, always in search of novel and creative solutions that result from conversation and debate, a search for consensus.
I thank you for considering my application to XXXX University.