Sacred B. Huff, Class of 2019, was honored at GW's annual Power & Promise dinner for her work to remedy the issues within the foster care system. The annual celebration of philanthropy introduces donors to students "whose educations they have helped enable." A group of scholarship awardees shared their own experiences over the course of the evening. Ms. Huff is the recipient of the Janet Altman Spragens Scholarship.
At the celebration, Ms. Huff gave a speech about her experience as a former foster youth and how a scholarship from GW made a difference in her life. "My circumstances inspired me to pursue a career in law because I experienced systemic failures firsthand, and I believe that the legal system can and should be used to address many of these failures," she said. The scholarship she received enables her to study at GW Law and to take advantage of many different experiential learning opportunities. Last summer, she interned at the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless. Ms. Huff said her most memorable experience was the time she went to a local homeless shelter to give a "know your rights" presentation for the residents. Afterwards, she spoke with a resident who shared that she had recently aged out of foster care. They compared their experiences and discussed the ways in which the system "had failed us." Ms. Huff was then asked to write a blog for the legal clinic's website. She sat down with the same resident and received her input to tell her story. "This was meaningful to me because it allowed me to experience advocacy in the purest form," she said. "Beyond being a voice for someone else, I was able to use my platform to empower someone else because we shared similar backgrounds."
Ms. Huff believes that her internships have solidified her desire to practice law, saying, "I am even more committed to practicing public interest law because I want to help disadvantaged and underserved communities." She said experiential learning opportunities helps set up students for success and enables them to make a positive difference in the world.
The scholarships included under the Power & Promise umbrella help lower the cost of a GW education and reduce loan burdens by providing scholarships to qualified students regardless of their financial resources.
To read Ms. Huff's blog post, visit this page. Watch her entire speech below.
[video:https://vimeo.com/265592005 width:560 height:315 align:center lightbox_title:Sacred B. Huff Speech]