FIU Law student Shayna Hudson wins scholarship


100_2588

Third-year law student Shayna Hudson was recognized as one of three scholarship recipients during the Caribbean Bar Association’s (CBA) 8th Annual Scholarship and Awards Banquet: Celebrating Twenty Years of Informing, Educating and Empowering Our Community held on Oct. 4.

Each year, the CBA awards several internship opportunities along with a scholarship prize. Applicants are evaluated in two areas: their academic achievements – Hudson has a background in economics, was summa cum laude and continues to excel in law school – and their community involvement. While working with the DREAM Project at the Carlos A. Costa Immigration and Human Rights Clinic, Hudson helped applicants attain thier naturalization status. She has also helped students, under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, remain in the United States to complete their schooling. Along with meeting these requirements, candidates were required to write a 1,000 words or less essay that addressed the denaturalization issue that recently occurred in the Dominican Republic and what would happen if the United States adopted a similar law.

Hudson’s submission included that, “[T]he United States was founded by migrants. Citizens should not have to be stationed within a state to maintain citizenship. Restricting citizens to the state in which they claim citizenship puts a restriction and control over citizens that limits their development and growth of the nation as a whole.”

Following her submission, Hudson was interviewed by a panel of CBA members.

As a scholarship winner, Hudson had the opportunity to intern for the Honorable Abby Cynamon, circuit court judge for the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida. For Hudson, the scholarship stipend and the internship opportunity heightened her FIU Law experience.

“This experience has shaped my outlook on the law, and I have found that with faith and perseverance I can help grant legal access to so many that need it,” she said. “Because of this experience with Judge Cynamon I have learned a lot and look forward to applying what I have learned in the courtroom.”