Meet Ariattne Zarate Leon ’26

Where are you from and what is your background?
I am a daughter of immigrants from Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. I am also a first generation, low income, student of color that is interested in a career of law and research. I grew up in Tucson Arizona and moved to the Bay Area in 2010. I am interested in this career path because I want to be continuously learning how our laws work and our court systems function to be able to give resources to my community.

Why did you apply for this graduate program and decide to study at USF?
At 15 I realized I specifically wanted to support migrants and undocumented students get access to resources and spread awareness to the community of their rights. Recently in my current master's program in Migration Studies I want to further my career in supporting migrants through research and practice law in the future. I want to develop a documentary highlighting the risks and negative experiences migrants face to humanize immigration. As President Donald Trump will be in office soon I believe it is important to debunk the current discourse of migrants and help our nation understand why people are coming and how they could be seen as an asset and not a burden.

What impacts has the Dean's Scholarship had on your ability to further your studies?
As low-income and first-first-generation I endured setbacks and obstacles in pursuit of my education. I had to apply to funds and scholarships to cover the costs as I became independent at the age of 16. My parents have not financially supported me since. I wanted to pursue research and I hoped that applying early to the master's program last year would help me. I am blessed that the committee chose me. I am able to afford the first year of the program. I plan to look for scholarships to cover my second year, so I can wrap up my research and create a documentary.

What are your career ambitions?
I hope to be in the same career path as Professor Bill Hing. I would love to be a researcher, developing scholarship, and also practicing law. After this master's program I plan to attend law school. I am going to take immigration law classes next semester to give me a taste of how law school functions. I also work full time at the Superior Court of SF as a Deputy Court Clerk. I hope to pass my probation, become a court room clerk to get courtroom experience, and later transfer to the criminal court clerk position. I want to gain experience in our court systems and how law functions within the criminal and immigration field. I plan to practice "crimmigration," law.

What is something unique or interesting about you?
I love nature and animals so much. In my free time I love to hike and feel connected to our earth. I also consider myself to be spiritual, so connecting to the earth makes me feel connected to the divine.