Photo courtesy of Hana’a Farha
By Sheila Pursglove
Legal News
Hana'a Farha set her sights on a legal career as early as seventh grade, continued to research that field throughout high school, and earned an undergrad degree in criminal justice from Eastern Michigan University as a path to law school.
“I fell in love with the program and my passion grew more and more with each year,” she says.
Farha is now a 1L student and a Transnational Fellow in the Dual Degree program with the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law and University of Windsor Faculty of Law.
“I think the initial reason I was drawn to the law was because as the daughter of immigrant parents, you always want their hard work to pay off by making sure you’re living the American Dream they worked hard for you to obtain,” she says.
While a prospective student, Farha was introduced to the Dual Degree program by faculty and students at a UDM Golf Outing.
“Funnily enough, when I was younger my family would go to Windsor and whenever I passed by the University of Windsor, I would say I would go to school there because the library building was so beautiful,” she says. “Weird how things come around full circle but I’m grateful for the opportunity to study international law in the same time it would take to get a regular JD degree.”
Farha appreciates the family environment of Detroit Mercy Law.
“The faculty will remember your name and make sure everything is okay. I know I can count on them and that they have my best interests in mind,” she says. “This also expands to the students as well. There’s an organization for everyone and if you feel there isn’t, you can create one. As a member of the Student Government at UDM, I can say with pride that we support students and encourage them to support their communities and fellow classmates.”
She is also deeply appreciative of her transnational fellowship that allows her to be a member of the Fellows, to receive peer mentorship from UDM alumni, and to have multiple opportunities to give back to the community by participating in such programs as Adopt-A-Child and Forgotten Harvest.
“It helps us grow as community leaders and remember that helping others is what’s important,” she says.
Farha is particularly interested in human rights.
“It was my first juvenile justice class in university that really grew my passion to want to help younger kids who get tossed in the system and have no one else encouraging them to get out,” she says. “I’m grateful for the life I’ve lived with my loving and supporting family and I want others to feel that same sense of safety.”
Farha has been pleased to find the opportunities for hands-on experience in the law school’s many clinics; and enjoys events held by faculty or other UDM organizations that provide networking opportunities to open the door to externships.
“Career Services helps us with getting externships and making sure our resumes and cover letters are great,” she says. “The resources at UDM are seemingly endless.”
While Farha aims to be a successful lawyer capable of helping as many people as she can, her ultimate goal is to one day become a Supreme Court justice.
Not surprisingly, Farha is among the many students finding studies particularly stressful during the coronavirus pandemic.
“I’ve taken online courses in university before, but we’re learning a whole new language and I personally find it better to do that in person when the professors are there for me to talk face to face without risk of there being a misunderstanding,” she says.
“However, the school was efficient in handling the situation and I’m grateful for that because it put me at ease. The faculty and our professors are doing their best to make sure we are all OK and have what we need to finish off the semester successfully. It isn’t ideal but ultimately, it could have been much worse.
“I would say one of the hardest things is reminding my brain that school is still in session despite being home. The motivation can sometimes escape me but I have my classmates as a support system that understands this and we talk and work through these issues together.”
She relaxes by reading, playing video games, and watching TV.
“I try to make time to watch at least one episode of a show a week or at least one movie. There isn’t much time, especially since I commute and traveling to and from classes each day takes up two to three hours of my day, but I recognize that overworking myself isn’t healthy and make sure to enjoy something for myself, even a YouTube video or two,” she says.
The lifelong Ypsilanti native is the youngest of seven, with three brothers and three sisters.
“I’m incredibly grateful for my family—they’ve been with me since day one of this journey and are my emotional support when I get overwhelmed,” she says.
“There’s a running joke in my family that when I graduate my father gets my Canadian degree and my mother gets my Michigan degree because the two of them have done so much for me, it’s almost like they are earning the degrees themselves. I love my family and do the best that I can to make them proud.”
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