On Feb. 23, Florida State University (FSU) hosted a Q&A panel called “Why Representation Matters.” This panel included a group of local Black attorneys from Tallahassee and was created in cooperation with FSU’s Black Law Students Association (BLSA), Women in Pre Law-Society (WIPS), Florida A&M University’s (FAMU) Phi Alpha Delta Pre-Law Society, Hatchett Pre Law Society and more! I attended this event through WIPS, however, there was a great turnout from a huge variety of organizations from both FSU and FAMU. I am so glad that I went to this panel as a pre-law Person of Color (POC) student and will be attending some of their next events!
As the name suggests, the event had a question-and-answer format, where the host would ask a series of questions to the attorneys about their experiences in law school and as practicing professionals in the legal field. A lot of these questions were related to their encounters with racism in the legal field, especially centering on the idea of being taken less seriously or regarded as less professional than their white counterparts. After hearing each of the attorney’s answers, the floor was then opened to the students to ask any questions we had about something they previously said or things we are generally curious about. They were able to give us some specific insights, as several were FSU alums!
One thing that stood out to me the most was the imposter syndrome discussion. Imposter syndrome is basically when you feel like you don’t deserve the achievements or success that you’ve earned as much as the other people around you. This is a common phenomenon and was first recorded amongst highly successful women, especially Women of Color. This topic was raised by a student, and it was so comforting to hear that even practicing attorneys feel things like imposter syndrome in their professional lives.
Another huge takeaway from this event was the idea of confidence and taking pride and ownership in your work. Feeling confident and self-assured can be very difficult, especially whilst battling things like imposter syndrome. One of the panelists named Khari James, a Tallahassee attorney and FSU alumna, focused on the idea that we must believe that we deserve to be in and belong to any and all of the professional spaces that we find ourselves in. Given that women of color in professional environments suffer most from imposter syndrome, it is so important that we take the time to remind ourselves that we have earned our positions and achievements and deserve a seat at the table.
Here at FSU, we are so incredibly lucky that we have events like these to help guide and inform us about the different choices our education gives us and what our obstacles might look like. Diversity and inclusion are such important topics, especially considering the social and political climate we are living in. We have so many organizations and resources dedicated to these kinds of topics, and I for one am very happy that I decided to attend this panel!
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