In recognition of her commitment to supporting law students, alum Kassandra Gonzalez ’19 was awarded the Texas Law 2024 Mentor of the Year distinction.
Gonzalez goes “above and beyond as a mentor,” 2L mentee Angelina Ramirez wrote in her nomination for Gonzalez, who “provided guidance by openly sharing her experiences, wisdom, and challenges.”
“She is passionate and enthusiastic about being a mentor and always makes me feel like she’s genuinely happy to be there,” Ramirez added in her nomination letter. Ramirez worked for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund in San Antonio this past summer through a Baron & Budd Public Interest Summer Fellowship.
A committee of law school faculty and staff reviewed all the nominations and suggested finalists before Dean Bobby Chesney and Director of the Mentoring Program Rémi Ratliff ’95 made the final selection.
“What really stood out in the nomination was how committed Kassandra was to her student’s success. She helped and guided Angelina with classes, grades, and law school, but she also provided insight and knowledge into how to launch a career in the public interest,” says Ratliff. “And Kassandra did probably the single-most valuable thing that any mentor can do for a student: She opened her network to Angelina and introduced her to more attorneys who could answer questions and give her job leads.”
Gonzalez is a staff attorney on the Beyond Borders team at the Texas Civil Rights Project in Austin. As a Texas Law student, she participated in the 1L mentorship program, meeting regularly with mentor Lori Pickle ’09—a partner with Dwyer Murphy Calvert in Austin—for guidance, including regarding her career path. “That experience ultimately influenced me to pursue public interest law,” Gonzalez says.
Now, with her own expertise to share, Gonzalez offers some advice to students:
Ask and connect. Gonzalez urges students to ask questions and request help from others in their community when they need something, including professors, school leadership, peers, and mentors. Acting as a resource for her mentee Ramirez involved “helping her make connections, exposing her to the legal world with an office visit to Texas Civil Rights Project, and setting up coffee/lunch dates so we could chat about law school and life.” Gonzalez recommends building connection with the people you get along with.
Grades do not define you. She urges students not to let the pressure to succeed or the result of a single test sour their self-image. “While I think grades are important, I also think what you do—clinics, volunteering, pro bono work—and how you treat people—being kind, helpful, humble—also matter in your future career,” she says.
Focus on the shorter term. Students don’t need to have a detailed plan for their next five to 10 years. “It’s much less anxiety-inducing when you don’t fixate so much” on the future, Gonzalez says. Without a strict blueprint, serendipity happens. “I didn’t necessarily plan to practice immigration civil rights law,” she says, “but I knew I wanted to do public interest work. Sometimes there are opportunities in the form of curveballs, and you just have to embrace them.”
Gonzalez’s desire to help others comes from her own experience.
She was the first person in her family to move away for college, leaving her hometown of Brownsville, Texas for UT, and later attend law school. Gonzalez says she faced challenges including imposter syndrome. During Gonzalez’s 1L year, her husband was in and out of the hospital with an illness, and she struggled to balance classes and final exams. Her first semester grades were disappointing, and she felt “extremely discouraged.”
While “everything turned out more than fine,” Gonzalez says the experience enabled her to understand and relate to law students who are dealing with a family emergency or difficulty adjusting. It also inspired her to mentor. “I wanted to use my education and career to give back to the community and help pave the way for future generations of attorneys,” she says.
Even when times are tough, “you don’t need to quit,” she says. “You can keep going.”
Read about 2023’s Mentor of the Year Julianne Grellner.