My dad was an immigrant from Afghanistan. He had been a member of the “freedom fighters” when the Soviets invaded, and after the collapse, he made a home for himself in Seattle. He became a glassblower and traveled back to Afghanistan as a translator with the coalition forces after 9/11. My mom grew up in Central Washington. She was the daughter of migrant farmers from Mexico. She moved to Seattle in her early 20’s and worked in childcare and then housekeeping and is now a part of the janitorial staff at the University of Washington. They met and eventually married here in Seattle and stayed, raising my two younger siblings and me.

I recognized the privilege I have as an American from a very young age —the opportunities I am afforded because of the country I was lucky enough to be brought up in. My parents instilled a strong work ethic and worked to provide me with every opportunity to succeed in whatever form that took. It wasn’t until my junior year of high school that I found what I was truly passionate about—a local attorney started a mock trial team at my school. I was able to share a narrative in an organized fashion and demand honest accountability from a court. Something clicked. I recognized this was where our privilege as Americans comes from – it’s the rule of law and the ability to hold individuals and entities accountable when you’ve been wronged. It’s the ability to share your side of a story and have a neutral arbiter decide how to solve this problem and create a record, so the same wrong does not happen to anyone else.

Armed with this desire to become a part of the legal profession, I moved to the East Coast for college. After four years of working full-time and studying, I became the first in my family to graduate college. I decided to take a year off to ensure law school was still for me, so I moved to New York City.

I started my career working at an advertising agency. Slowly I understood the dynamics of how a company works, and while I enjoyed the people I worked with, now and then, when I’d witness an injustice, I’d speak up but always hoped there was more I could do. One year turned into four years, and I finally moved back to Seattle, ready to start my journey to become a member of the Washington State Bar.

Throughout law school, I had the privilege of working in many different fields of law ranging from corporate in-house, to construction law, to government, and even externed in the chambers of Honorable Judge Ruhl of King County Superior Court, writing briefs on both the criminal and civil calendar. While I enjoyed each of these experiences and the forms each took within the practice of law, I was still searching for the same inspiration I had when I was a high school mock trial attorney.

Fate swept in during the global pandemic and the largest racial justice protests of my lifetime. Following the murder of George Floyd, I started a legal resource clinic with my law school classmates. We created and distributed “Know Your Rights” pamphlets outside of CHOP (Capitol Hill Organized Protest) and directed individuals to legal resources. Word got around that the Stritmatter Firm was starting a pro-bono project for injured Black Lives Matter Protesters, and I jumped at the opportunity to be a part of this movement. After interning for a year with the firm and upon graduation from UW, I was presented with an offer to join the Stritmatter Firm. I am now working on cases with amazing clients surrounded by attorneys, paralegals, and support staff dedicated to finding accountability from our justice system— I couldn’t be happier.