For this edition of Texas Law’s Student Spotlight series, meet 3L Miatta Echetebu, Coordinator of the law school’s Women of Color Collective and a legal clerk for the NAACP Texas State Conference!
Q: What is your biggest motivator in pursuing this career?
A: My daughter! If it wasn’t for her, I never would have pushed through the grief from losing her father enough to pick myself back up and start again in a new career and a new city with a renewed hope. She keeps me going every day, because I know she needs me to succeed. I just want to make her, and her dad in Heaven, proud and set an example for her of resilience and excellence.
Q: What made you choose Texas Law?
A: I chose Texas Law because the quality of the people here is unmatched. We are receiving an excellent legal education at Texas Law, but what’s more, is that we are gaining it in a uniquely supportive and charismatic environment. Success is not only about academic achievement but also about learning how to contribute to an atmosphere of positivity and kindness in the world, and it was apparent to me that Texas Law embodies and cultivates that wisdom within its students, faculty, and administration.
Q: What groups/clubs/internships have you participated in while at Texas Law?
A: I coordinate the law school’s Women of Color Collective, and I’m currently working as a legal clerk for the NAACP Texas State Conference through the nonprofit internship program. I’m also a member of Texas Business Law Society. I have been actively engaged in the Thurgood Marshall Legal Society. I served as the banquet committee co-chair last year for the organization’s 50th anniversary. I previously was a staff editor on the Texas Journal on Civil Liberties & Civil Rights. I have participated in pro bono work, including the Texas Law Expunction Project and the Texas Law Parole Project. I spent my 1L summer as a summer associate in the Houston office of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP. I spent my 2L summer as a summer associate in the Houston office of Locke Lord LLP, as well as a touchback at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP. Next year I will be joining the Houston office of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP as a full-time corporate associate. I am incredibly thankful for these amazing opportunities and look forward to taking advantage of more in the remainder of my time here!