My name is Julia Angelica Muhsen, I am originally from the Southwest side of Chicago, I am the proud daughter of my Mexican-American mother and Palestinian father, and a 2018 graduate of Columbia College, where I majored in Ethnicity and Race Studies and English. Due to CSER’s encouragement of multidisciplinary scholarship I was able to combine my two interests for my thesis, which focused on the origins and implications of the creative writing workshop and its role in maintaining systemic discrimination. Upon graduation I was honored with CSER’s Excellence in Scholarship Award. Since then, I have taught a year of high school English in my hometown of Chicago and am currently a Litigation Specialist supporting clients who have been victims of wrongful convictions and police misconduct. I hope to continue working towards the aims of a more just society by entering law school and focusing on public interest work.