Atticus Finch

We’re always told to chase after our dreams…phrases like “Shoot for the stars” are seared into my mind and for a long time I resented them because I wasn’t particularly passionate about anything. I’m not artistic, I can’t sing or dance, I don’t like math, and the idea of business school is nauseating.

The one thing I always loved in school were debates. I tend to be the loud opinionated one in the room, and my friends always said I’d be a great politician (however, a four-year stint in Model UN led me to find I could never be a politician. The system is way too slow for the amount of time, energy, and frustration that goes into it #MaryamObservations). The only career path that has always spoken to me is law. At 12 years old I had developed a serious crush on Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch in To Kill A Mockingbird.  He was so dreamy. A noble lawyer fighting for justice against all odds. I wanted to be that. I wanted to deliver dramatic speeches in courtrooms when it seemed like I was done for, but my charismatic way with words would sway the jury just in the nick of time.

As I got older though, my dreams were corrupted like far too many are. People scoffed when I said I wanted to be lawyer. “Do you even know how hard law school is?” “Believe me. You won’t ever see the inside of a courtroom. It’s all paperwork and stress!” I’ve heard more than once that it’s only worth being a lawyer if I went into Corporate Law. The scary thing is, I started to believe those people. I started questioning why I would ever spend so much time and energy on something if it wouldn’t result in a big fat salary. Justice and human rights were figments of my imagination… the world just doesn’t work that way, you know?

Until you meet Gary Haugen.

The formal introduction: He’s the CEO and President of International Justice Mission (IJM), a human rights non-profit that secures rescue victims of violence, sexual exploitation, slavery, and oppression.

The informal introduction: Gary Haugen is the person who reminded me why I ever dreamed of becoming a lawyer. He’s the unofficial reason why I’m an International Studies major, and decided to follow through on applying to intern with Invisible Children.

I first heard Gary speak at the 2011 Fourth Estate Leadership Summit with 650 other world changers. I had chills from beginning to end as he recounted some of the incredible work he’s done. When talking about the atrocities in the world, he brought up the oft repeated phrase, “If there is a God, why does He let things like this happen?” Gary’s response: “The question shouldn’t be where is God; the question should be where are God’s people?” His simple philosophies articulated so many things I wasn’t bright enough to put together. By the end of his talk, I remembered why I had always wanted to be a lawyer. I remembered what it felt like to believe that I had the power to help people, and that the bad guys can (and do) face justice. Impunity is not meant to be the norm; justice will prevail one day. I’m hoping to get the opportunity to meet Gary in person at this year’s Fourth Estate Summit so that I can thank him. It’s not everyday that someone succeeds in beating out my cynicism and reinspiring me to believe in my dreams. No matter how idealistic they might be.