Stephanie Kang, UC Hastings College of The Law

As a first year college student at the University of Southern California, Kang admits that her goals did not involve a career in social justice, but a student advocacy seminar changed that. During her sophomore year, Kang participated in a USC Asian Pacific American Student Service program known as CIRCLE, which stands for Critical Issues in Race, Class, and Leadership Education. Through the program, which focused on matters of concern to Asian Pacific American and other minority communities, Kang was exposed to a number of community-based organizations. She was given the opportunity to meet clients and gain an understanding of the demands of work in that field. ''It made me realize that being an advocate and providing direct services is what I really feel passionate about,'' said Kang.

Since her graduation from USC in 2007, Kang has continued to dedicate her time to social justice issues. Prior to enrolling at UC Hastings College of The Law, she worked in domestic violence intervention and prevention and legal outreach. She also worked as a youth specialist and program coordinator for the Asian Pacific Family Center in Rosemead for two years.

During her time at UC Hastings, Kang has received a number of honors, including the national title for the Asylum and Refugee Moot Court Competition, the Justice Stephen K. Tamura Scholarship, and the Robert E. Wone Fellowship.

Last summer, Kang's clerkship brought her to APILegal Outreach in San Francisco, where she dealt with domestic violence cases, restraining orders, and human trafficking cases.

At the present time, Kang is absorbed in a Hastings project, which serves to acknowledge Japanese American's whose legal education was impacted by Executive Order 9066, the presidential order of 1942 that ordered Japanese Americans into internment camps. The project's focus is to present honorary degrees to Japanese Americans who were forced to leave their education behind as a result of the order. Kang points out that graduate school was unattainable for the majority of immigrants in the 1940's. ''I was amazed that 10 students of Japanese descent were even enrolled in Hastings at the time,'' said Kang. Although many law students were able to return to Hastings or other law schools to finish their studies following World War II, many did not have that opportunity. ''The individuals who never had the opportunity to finish their legal education or pursue a career in law need to be recognized,'' said Kang. She also notes that these are the individuals who opened doors for the current generation and should therefore be remembered for what they did.