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Layering Jobs Into Aspirations · AccessCo Leaders Career Conversations

• Ilyne Deliquina: Hello, hello, and welcome back to AccessCo Leaders Career Conversations with our young adult externs for the summer. We have an incredible guest, Alkeyvia Haynes, who's a staff attorney with Orange County Public Schools, and our three externs, Ariana, Miguel, and Djoser. Alkeyvia, welcome to the show. Alkeyvia Haynes: Thank you for having me. Excited to be here. Ilyne Deliquina: Awesome. Great. Can you tell us what does it mean, excuse me, what does it mean to be a staff attorney with the Orange County Public Schools? Alkeyvia Haynes: ⁓ so I've been with OCPS for a little, sorry, so let me backtrack. I'm with Orange County Public Schools. Our short term is OCPS. So you'll hear me say OCPS throughout because that's what I'm used to saying. ⁓ so I've been with OCPS for about a little over two years. ⁓ I started in the February 2024. ⁓ so this Upcoming school year will be my third full school year that I've been with them. And as a staff attorney, I oversee a couple different areas in the school district. So primarily student discipline. So when our students are disciplined by OCPS, we have a hierarchy here of our disciplines. So I mainly get involved when it's a level four. ⁓ offense, which is our highest level offense. So I make sure that our schools have ⁓ given the student due process ⁓ before they are suspended. ⁓ or in some cases they can also be expelled. So I oversee that team. I also oversee our student enrollment. So any enrollment or cut in that also involves ⁓ child custody issues that we may have. ⁓ I also oversee that as well. We have a threat management team. For some of you that are local to Florida, you know, a couple years ago we had a very horrific school shooting. So there are there was a lot of legislation that came out of that shooting. And one of them was that every school district is mandated to have a threat management team. that oversees any potential threats or threats that students make or even outside. So I over I advise that team as well. ⁓ I recently ⁓ gained a different area is our safety and emergency management team. So ⁓ not the risk management side, but ⁓ a lot of our schools are used during hurricane season in Florida. So we just make sure that ⁓ I oversee ⁓ that team or any risks inside like our our schools or in ⁓ from like you know I don't know it's a it's a lot goes into the safety and emergency management. ⁓ but I oversee that team and I feel like I'm forgetting somebody so if I get them I'll I'll remember later. So we have ⁓ yeah so we have six Ilyne Deliquina: That's okay, Alkevia. I feel like The school district keeps you guys busy. Alkeyvia Haynes: full time attorneys on our team and then for more complex issues we outsource them to outside council. Ilyne Deliquina: That's awesome. So you you ⁓ described so many different areas of what makes a school district stay in compliance. Can you tell us a little bit about some of the work you did leading up into becoming an attorney for ⁓ for a school district? Like I know you spent some time in in in the court and we met ⁓ in DC. So I know you did some exciting things out there. So tell us a little bit about what led you to ⁓ the school district. Alkeyvia Haynes: So I guess my journey was a little unconventional. If you look at the kind of journey of a particular, I guess I would say attorney. ⁓ I started out my career. I'm from Miami, so I went to undergrad and both law school here in Florida. ⁓ after that I decided that I wanted to move to DC. And so ⁓ I did that. ⁓ just a quick aside. ⁓ At the time that I moved to DC, I didn't have to take another bar exam. So that's one of the reasons why I chose ⁓ DC. I was licensed here in Florida and my multi-state score transferred to DC. So I was able to just use that to wave into DC. ⁓ so that's where I started my legal career. ⁓ I started out with the ⁓ I was a law clerk for a ⁓ Department of Justice. contractor. ⁓ so beginning out, I worked on a lot of ⁓ the Hurricane Katrina litigation, believe it or not, in 20, that was 2011, I believe I graduated from law school. And so ⁓ that was still going on. ⁓ still in heavy litigation. There was a couple phases. So I worked on like the last two phases of the Hurricane Katrina litigation. And then I also worked a lot on the ⁓ I'm I feel like I'm really dating myself. ⁓ the deep water ⁓ oil spill that happened out ⁓ in the Gulf. ⁓ so that's how I started my career. I did that for four to five years, I believe. ⁓ and then after that I transitioned to the ⁓ Social Security Administration ⁓ I worked on disability appeals. So I worked on the, you know, when somebody goes into their local social security office, they apply for disability. This is not social security retirement. I've never worked on retirement, so I don't know anything about that. But it's like you get injured or something and you go into your local office, you apply for Social Security benefits. ⁓ they are either granted or denied. and ⁓ the person that applied will appeal that decision. ⁓ and then that's where my office came in. We reviewed those appeals. ⁓ so in that I got I was in a unique position because I got to work on both sides. So at some point Social Security decided that not only did they want to review those appeals, but they also wanted to review those decisions that weren't appealed to make sure they was also policy compliant. So I did like a lot of policy work with that. And then yep. Ilyne Deliquina: So it sounds like, ⁓ Alkevia, if I can jump in real quick, sounds Alkeyvia Haynes: Okay. Okay. Ilyne Deliquina: during middle school and high school, making those connections of what you were doing then to what you're doing today. So what were some of your interests when you were younger in like high school? Let's let's talk about high school and undergrad years. Alkeyvia Haynes: So high school. So I actually went into high school thinking I was gonna be a pediatrician. So I was in medical magnet. I enjoyed it up until the point where we had to start our clinicals. And I feel like day three of clinicals, I was like, this is not the place for me. Like I cannot. I don't know. It was something with the needles, the blood. It was just like, nope, can't do this. And so at that point, ⁓ high school, so I went to Being from Miami, ⁓ high school football is very prominent here in ⁓ Florida. So in high school, that's what I love to do on Friday nights. If you ever watch Friday Night Lights, that was literally a rendition of my ⁓ high school years. We went to football games. I really enjoyed that. and knowing that I didn't want to go to med school anymore, I was just like, well, what else can I do? And so that's how I kind start looking into the law. ⁓ transition to undergrad, still had my love for football. I went to Florida State University. And so I ⁓ stayed close to athletics. ⁓ going back, I also interned. So once I decided that I didn't want to go ⁓ be in medical magnet traditional, I still had to like complete an extern to fulfill my ⁓ high school requirements. So I started interning actually in our ⁓ with our athletic director. I did that for two years. ⁓ it was a student information specialist, I guess. And so I got to do that for two years in high school, which I really enjoyed. And so the natural progression when I went to undergrad was to stay involved in athletics. And I ⁓ participated in our football and basketball recruiting. For two for three years actually, I did that for three years. And so that's kind of what keeps me busy when I'm not working. I'm probably ⁓ in front of the TV watching college football is like my preference. I have like a little hierarchy. ⁓ and then I'll since I got married, I got way more involved in NFL. Always followed NFL because I had a a lot of people being from Miami. There was a lot of people I knew that ⁓ transitioned to the NFL. So I kind of followed them along in their journey. But that's what I like to do. and spend a lot of time at church. That's what I do when I'm not birthday. Ilyne Deliquina: Awesome. Well, thank you for sharing all of that, Alkevia. I'm gonna hand it over to our students. They're gonna have a c a few questions for you. ⁓ and we'll to know more about your personal and professional journey. So let's go ahead and start off with Ariana. What's your first question for ⁓ for Alkevia? Alkeyvia Haynes: Before you start, I just wanna say no questions are off limits, so ask me whatever. Ilyne Deliquina: Awesome. Ariana M.: Kivia, ⁓ what's the most rewarding part about working for O C P S? Alkeyvia Haynes: Kai for me I guess I get to Have an impact. So believe it or not, OCPS is the eighth largest school district in the country. So a lot of other school districts follow what we do and what we're doing over here at OCPS. So I I feel like even though I'm doing this little small thing at OCPS, it's making a huge difference throughout the country because like I said, a lot of people follow ⁓ what we do. And I feel like I've always had a heart for students. So even like when I put on my hat ⁓ as a overseeing discipline, ⁓ my primary role is to like I'm the attorney for the district. So I have to fight. Sorry, guys. Let me turn off. So when I'm not in the office, my phone rings through my computer. So that's how connected I am. So sorry about that. So I You know, I get to advocate for students, even when I'm putting on my hat, you know, my primary role is to defend the district, but I also want to make sure that the district followed guidelines into, you know, making those stu making sure that we have enough evidence to prove that that student committed that offense. So I feel like I get to like protect the student and the district at the same time. Ilyne Deliquina: Awesome. And let's go with Josiah, your first question. Djoser Burruss: Hi, it's really nice to meet you. ⁓ you said something about or you were kinda talking about like in your legal career you've done a of different things. Like you said you like a law clerk and then you started advocating for like veterans' ⁓ disability rights and then you even worked kind of with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. And I was wondering like was that kind of a natural progression of things or did you just find yourself becoming interested in different things at different times? Alkeyvia Haynes: I So I feel like it was like the natural progression. So like when I came out of law school, I came out during a rough time where there was just like not a lot of good legal jobs. So I was just like I needed a job, so let me take what I could do. And then I ended up, you know, kinda enjoying it. One thing I didn't share is before I so what got me back to Florida was that I decided that I wanted to Try my hand at being in the courtroom. ⁓ I had up until that point, I've never I had never been a lit litigator. And so that's what got me back to Florida. So I was a prosecutor for almost three years. So I kinda like the thing, one thing I feel like people don't understand about the law is that you can kind of transition how you want and what do what you want to do. And so I was just like, let me, you know, I went into law school, like I don't want to be in the courtroom, please. I that's not what I wanted to do. And then after I don't know however many years, I was just like, let me try my hand at this. And I actually enjoyed it. So ⁓ I think it's like for me, it was like a natural progression, but very unconventional in the sense of you see you you don't see many lawyers just saying like I don't like this, let me pivot. Sometimes we get stuck. Ilyne Deliquina: appreciate you sharing that, Alkeyvia. I we appreciate when our our guests share kind of what was be going on behind the scenes in the in the brain of that professional and making those pivots and those decisions. So thank you for that. Miguel, what's your first question? Miguel Cardona: Hey, I'll Kivia. So, ⁓ my question is I noticed on your LinkedIn that you had a very extensive ⁓ work experience in law, which first I would like to commend you for. I think that's really amazing. But one thing I did notice is that you worked as an executive team leader at Target. And so with that I wanted to ask you, do any of the skills you learn from a job like that has ⁓ you still use in your day to day as of right now? And if so, how can someone such as me who is going into the workforce use the skills that I learn at like a job such as that when I get to like, you know, Alkeyvia Haynes: Hi. Thank you. Miguel Cardona: ⁓ for example, I want to be a bi a biomedical engineer, so how can I use those skills at, you know, kinda like my dream job? Alkeyvia Haynes: Good question. And thank you for reminding me about that. Cause I totally forgot about that two years of my life. but yeah, so I've I feel like that job taught me how to communicate with people very well. So when I took that job, ⁓ so executive team leader, just a quick picture of what they do. So in Target, there's a store manager and then they have executive team leaders. So we are like right under the store manager and we had to in So for five hours every day during our shift, we ran the store. So it taught me a lot about communicating with people, about being assertive, ⁓ you know, sticking to what I wanted to do because I took that job, I was twenty-two years old. So imagine ⁓ somebody calling on the walkie-talkie for the manager on duty and this twenty-two year old person is coming up to the front. And I'm gonna I I'm the one in charge that day. So I can't go get my store manager. I have to say, like, this is our policy, this is what we're doing. So it taught me very early on how to communicate with people and also how to be a leader when you actually don't really know how to be. Like I leaned on a lot of my team at the time, had been at Target for years. And so I leaned on them. And it it taught me how that you can lead. While also leaning on people with more experience. Ilyne Deliquina: Ooh, that's good, Alkevia. Look at that. And you were reminded that you had that job all those many years ago. See? Nothing is wasted. ⁓ is wasted. Tar target executive lead to staff attorney at OCPS. That's awesome. ⁓ let's go to Charles, your first question. Alkeyvia Haynes: Yeah, I yeah, forgot all about it. So thank you. Yep. Charles G.: Hello, can you hear me alright? Alright, so my first question was 'cause I popped in a little late, but I heard that you like had a passion for like following football and watching football. So I wanted to know if like you ever thought about going into like entertainment law like working with athletes. Ilyne Deliquina: Sound good? Alkeyvia Haynes: So actually that's so when I originally decided that I wanted to go into law school, ⁓ I wanted to be a public defender. ⁓ at the time when I made kind of made like a transition from wanting to be a magn medical magnet, my cousin was actually on trial for murder. And so I went to that trial and that's what made me decide too that I wanted to be ⁓ a lawyer. And then as I became more involved when I I did the internship in athletics and then worked did it again in ⁓ college, that's really what I wanted to do when I ⁓ went to law school. I wanted to be like either an agent or some kind of representation. And it's still in the back of my mind. I haven't forgot about it. ⁓ but again, it's just like life. happens and things happen and I I still follow it. Like I could tell you like all about NIL and s and all those crazy things that are going on right now. ⁓ it's just like right now it's not the place for me. So I I still keep a ear there because I know like eventually if I knock on that door and want to be ⁓ the general counsel of the Miami Heater and Miami Dolphins, I'm building that school that skill set. So It's still there. Like it's still there right there in the back of my mind. And I feel like, you know, my journey is helping me build those skills to say that if I want to do that, I'll have the skill set to do it. Ilyne Deliquina: Let's go. Come on, Alkevia. Great question, Charles. But I love that our externs are hearing some from someone who's already in the midst of a career, still building those blocks to potential fulfilling dreams ⁓ in in the same industry. So I love that, Alkevia. Thank you. ⁓ Ariana to ⁓ yeah. Alkeyvia Haynes: And if I can jump in, I just wanted to say, in any career, it's also it's always about building the skill set. Like it's not normal not necessarily about like and making connections. Those two things I would say. So I feel like at every job that I've had, I've built a skill set that has given me the ability to transition into the next phase into a new job. Because if you heard my journey, you'll you kinda hear in the back that I I never have been in the same area of law. Like I went from although I've always had government jobs, I went from being ⁓ a law clerk on civil litigation to ⁓ doing disability, which is a totally different kind of law, to being a prosecutor, which is criminal law. Now I'm doing education law. So it's all about building that skill set that can help you transition to the next phase of your career. Ilyne Deliquina: Yes. Thousand percent agree with that. ⁓ Ariana, your next question. Ariana M.: So I did see that your first degree was a marketing degree, which that was gonna be mine, and then I switched it because I wanted to be a little bit more broad, but I love marketing. How do you use that now in your career as an attorney? Alkeyvia Haynes: Ha. so funny story about that was ⁓ my original, and see you you hear me say I pivot a lot. So that I get I guess that's one of my skills that I built. ⁓ when I my major was originally criminal justice or criminology. It was criminology, is what we had at Florida State. And so I feel like sophomore year going into junior year, I was like, what if in two years, and maybe that maybe I learned that from being a medical magnet and realizing that I didn't want to do that. I was just like, what it what if in two years I don't want to go to law school? What am I gonna do with this criminology degree? Like very little, like be a police, like I don't know, that like that was not something that I wanted to do. So I was just like, as I researched it more, I was like, I can literally go to law school. Everybody thinks you have to be like political science or do something like that to go to law school. And that is not true. Like you can literally have any undergrad d degree and get to get in law school. So I was just like, what do I want to do? Let me go into business. And at Florida State, you had to choose like a concentration. So that's why I chose marketing. And I feel like it's it's helped me to like market myself and say that, hey, like I know how. what I the skills that I need. So let's highlight these skills to get whatever job that I need. Ilyne Deliquina: That's good. I'll keep you our co-hosts, our externs are going to keep you on your toes. So they'll remind you of your old jobs, remind you of your old degrees and how they connect. All right, Djoser, you're up. Alkeyvia Haynes: Yeah, yes, yeah. Djoser Burruss: Yeah, so I actually do wanna go into like the legal field and like similar to you, like law school and then eventually practicing a law is like an end goal for me and I'm not necessarily sure yet of like what kind of law I wanna practice. I still have to think a lot about that. But as like a minority, have you found it difficult to navigate a legal field and like what advice would you give to other minorities like will or looking to do the same kind of work that you do? Alkeyvia Haynes: So I would say the landscape has changed a lot. So I went to law school in two thousand eight, graduated in two thousand eleven. So in between undergrad and law school is when I did that whole target stint. ⁓ because I did not get into law school the first time I applied. I just knew I was and I only applied to one school and I didn't get in. I was like waitlisted for the entire summer and then a day before school started, they were like, actually we don't have a seat for you. So I had to pivot and figure out something to do with my life. ⁓ so I would say from 2008, so almost 20 years I've been doing in this kind of field. And the landscape has changed a lot for minorities, but I feel like it's still tough to be quite honest. Like you Depending on what area you you want to go into, you still might be that one of one. ⁓ so you still have to be that best one of one ⁓ to get to where you want to go. ⁓ but I feel like now there there are a lot more people that look like me, like especially here in Orange County. There's so many judges, so many attorneys that are ⁓ minorities. that I can look to and that I can ask for help and that I can, you know, find a community with. ⁓ but you can't let that distract you, you know? Like you you have to go into and then say like still at this point I may be one of one, but I'm gonna be that best one of one. Ilyne Deliquina: That's good. That's good. Twenty years, Alkevia. Wow. We really are dating ourselves with these conversations. ⁓ you're up. Alkeyvia Haynes: Yeah. I know, I know, I know. Miguel Cardona: So my question is, I I kind of switched up my question because I feel like you have such a radiating like confidence, especially with the words you just said. And I feel like, you know, hearing all of this, you seem to like pivot and done a little bit of everything. And so my question to you is where do you kind of get that like motivation and confidence to do a little bit of everything and to like, you know, for example, when you got wait listed, you still tried to like, you know, just go out there and like continue being who you are. So where where does that come from? Alkeyvia Haynes: In the back of my mind, I always know that eventually whatever I'm seeking will happen. And I just feel like I'm a big proponent on like timing. So ⁓ like, say for instance, when I got waitlisted, maybe that wasn't the best time for me to go to law school. And it it honestly, in all honesty, it probably wasn't because ⁓ what ended up happening is I took two years off, I worked at Target, I gained those skills. And that probably helped me, helped my resume actually when I ⁓ it was time for me to apply to law school again. and the second time around, I got into the best law school in the state. So it's almost like it's always I think about like timing. And just for me, I feel like those doors closings or those little like not yet times, it reminds me of like when I didn't get that. Like, for instance, before I moved to DC, I mean, before I moved back to Florida and I was like transitioning and trying to figure out what I wanted to do, I actually applied for a job at the ⁓ I I can't I don't know the exact name, but it was like Chicago Public School Systems or whatever it was. And one thing ⁓ that I was told when I didn't get that job is that I needed to build a new skill set. And so when I went to the state attorney's office, I was able to build that litigation ⁓ skill set that I needed for me to transition into ⁓ what I'm doing now. So which is like the exact same job that I applied to three years before that I'm now in a role just in Florida. So I feel like I with every I guess not set back, I will say I would call it the delay is my word. ⁓ it just in the back of my mind I know, okay, it's coming. So this is just not the time. So let's just keep doing what we need to do to get there. Ilyne Deliquina: Preach that, Alkeyvia. So good. So good. You know, often we hear about resilience and you know, the word that you keep bringing up is pivot. If you're like, ⁓ that's not the way. We're just gonna, you know, pivot over here a little bit. And here you are doing the things you're doing and so many different aspects of your life. So thank you for sharing that. Charles, you're up. Charles G.: Hello, so my next question was what is your D to D like like where are you and what are you doing? Alkeyvia Haynes: So one thing I love about O CPS is that every day it's different. Like ⁓ we have been out of school for two weeks, I I believe. And so now my day to day is like a lot of meetings because now we're like strategizing about work worked ⁓ this past school year, what we need to pivot. But any day is like different. ⁓ I still like a good thing about what I do now is I still go to court twice a month. So I'm still keeping my little my litigation skills ⁓ sharp. ⁓ I still quote unquote try cases a little bit because ⁓ Florida statute mandates that any student that's being expelled ⁓ they're entitled to a hearing before an impartial hearing officer. So I still keep my litigation skills intact in that way. So about I don't know. Last year I feel like it was completely crazy was where I was in a hearing once a week. ⁓ so I was doing that. And then this year it's kind of like calm down, where now I'm just like in meetings and trainings, like training my team. ⁓ I'm my schedule was a little more flexible this year, so I could be involved in like our local bar association a little bit more ⁓ than I had in the past. So I feel like no day is different. Like I'm in a training right now. ⁓ but I really want to be here ⁓ to do this for you guys. So I was just like, Hey, I'm gonna need to step out for a second. So I don't know. Every day is kind of different, ⁓ which keeps me on my toes. Ilyne Deliquina: And with that, Alkevia, thank you again so much for stepping out of your own time and your own training to spend ⁓ this hour with our young adults, our our externs. We are gonna shift a little bit in this discussion and this conversation and get to know our ⁓ our externs a little bit. So I'm gonna hand it off. Ariana, go ahead and introduce yourself to Alkevia. We mentioned earlier that you are a local. You're ⁓ there in Orlando. So go ahead and share with Alkevia the things that you wanna do, what you know, your recent milestones. Ariana M.: Hi, so I graduate I'm Ariana and I graduated recently from University of Central Florida with an entertainment management degree. I actually just graduated in May. ⁓ and I actually went to Dr. Phillips High School, so part of OCPS as well. and while I was in ⁓ high school and in college, I fell in love kind of the same way that you have with sports. I used to always go to the high school football games. My boyfriend used to be on the team. ⁓ Alkeyvia Haynes: Okay. Okay. Ariana M.: And then when I got into college, it was kind of the same thing. I'm more of an NFL fan, but I I do still like college football because my boyfriend's from Miami, so you Miami made it last last season. ⁓ and so I've just grown to really love everything sports, and what I would like to see in my future is either be a social media manager or a marketer for ⁓ a sports team. If i I could pick any, it would definitely be Miami Dolphins. But I've always just loved telling the story of a team and getting fans to engage because I feel like that's what builds a community in sports. And so that is something that I would like to do in the future. Alkeyvia Haynes: So that's ⁓ that's excellent. ⁓ one thing I would say is don't ever feel like that the market is saturated. ⁓ start doing a podcast or you know, create create your own lane. ⁓ I know people talk a lot about influencers and I think maybe that's dying down, but there you could do it like a podcast. You can ⁓ do like I I'm literally in a The back of my mind, one of the things I want to do, like once I feel like life slows down a little bit for me, is like me and my brothers, we love sports. And funny story, it's like I have three older brothers. Two of us are diehard Florida State fans, two of us are diehard ⁓ fans. And I was like, you know what? We need to create a podcast so that we can go back and forth because and do a little banter. So if that's something you want to do, like start it now. Like do it on your own. So that way when you start applying for the jobs, you can say, Hey, look, this is what I've been doing. So, you know, I have some experience and you know, you can do whatever you want to do. Ilyne Deliquina: That's awesome, Al Kevia. That's ⁓ I loved hearing that. Ariana, how does that make you feel? I mean, I feel like we've been with you a few weeks now and nobody's ever said, Start a podcast, girl. Ariana M.: It's good. I feel very encouraged. It it's true that sometimes I do feel like the the market is saturated, but honestly, when you do something, I've seen people grow from like ten, twenty followers and I followed them early and now they've grown so big. So I should be putting in more time for me. And now that especially I graduated, I I want to do that. So thank you for the encouragement. Alkeyvia Haynes: Yeah. And it's not a it ⁓ honestly it's not enough girls. So do it. Do the thing. ⁓ because it's n yeah. Ilyne Deliquina: Ariana, share with Alkevia a little bit about some of the ⁓ the work you've done in marketing with like ⁓ the beauty space. Ariana M.: Yeah, so I ⁓ currently work at Ulta. I've been there since I graduated high school. So they asked to do social medias for each store. And I was kind of the one that said, I'll do it. So I've been marketing ⁓ all of our company events because we get corporate events ⁓ twice a month. We've been doing that. I've been running those events with ⁓ my team of prestige beauty advisors because we're the ones kind of in charge of doing those corporate events. And then I was wor I'm working at a PR agency where I'm also marketing ⁓ authors, writers, and then we have musicians as well. And I also was when I was in high school I was doing the social media for Dr. Phillips High School. So the the Instagram that they had, that was me for the a year and a half because I was doing it the in my junior year and then my full senior year. So Alkeyvia Haynes: That's okay. Well, that's cute. That's great. So you are the plug for Ulta B Ulta Beauty World because I really tried to get in at Ulta Beauty World this year and I was just like, ⁓ my God. Ariana M.: Yes. I'm gonna try to 'cause I didn't get tickets, but hopefully next year Ilyne Deliquina: There you go. Networking right, you know, you're seeing it right in right in real time here. So this is how it works. Well, thank you again for ⁓ for that words of the words of encouragement and wisdom for Ariana. Let's hop over to Djoser. Djoser, go ahead and introduce yourself to Alkevia. Alkeyvia Haynes: Yeah. Djoser Burruss: ⁓ I r I recently graduated high school in San Diego, California and this fall I'm gonna be attending ⁓ Morehouse College as a political science major. And like similar to you, I definitely wanna pursue something in the legal field. I definitely need to think more about like what I want to specifically, but I could definitely see myself or I definitely would like to go to law school and practice something like civil rights law or maybe like criminal justice law in the future. And I think the ma like driving reason behind that is just a lot of what I've seen like I guess in society, it's just kind of a weird answer, but kind of just ⁓ over the news in between people like political discourse, a lot of civil unrest kind of inspired me to really read up on ⁓ you know, systematic ⁓ oppression, stuff like that. And it's also kind of been supplemented by some of the classes I took in high school. So since I just graduated, that's like where a lot of my experiences limit to, but I've taken some dual enrollment courses such as like sociology that really deepened my worldview. And at first it was kind of like nerve wracking to join a c a course like that it was brand new, but I think it definitely deepened my worldview of certain systems ⁓ that you know, can maybe like negatively or positively affect us. So I think that's kind of where my main drive to practice that thing comes from. Alkeyvia Haynes: Yeah, so like I said earlier, you can do like don't be afraid to like major in whatever you want to in undergrad. Don't be stuck to do like political science or whatever, the traditional whatever you're supposed to do. ⁓ other thing I would say, I I know a lot of Morehouse men. So ⁓ Ilyne has my contact information. my cousin literally, ⁓ who lives here with me in Orlando, ⁓ went to Morehouse. So yeah, like even if that's something like like I said, when I went to law school, I went I you could not tell me that I was not gonna be a sports and entertainment lawyer when I came out. That is what I wanted to do. I was like vice president of the sports and entertainment society and I've pivoted. So you can do like even if that's like where what you wanna do now, Even if you don't get that as your first job, just don't give up on it. And ⁓ funny story, my first so that summer that I was waiting to get into law school, I actually worked for Benjamin Crump. ⁓ his ⁓ firm at the time was in ⁓ Tallahassee. And my cousin worked there at one point. So that's how I made money ⁓ that summer ⁓ working for him. And ⁓ we also we keep in touch. ⁓ so. Never know who you know. Ilyne Deliquina: That's right. Joseph, what's a follow up question for ⁓ for Al Kibia? Djoser Burruss: Yeah, my follow-up question is kinda like specific, but I mentioned how or I saw on your LinkedIn how you kind of worked as a law clerk early on. And I think given how competitive the job market is, ⁓ certain entry level jobs such as like a law clerk and even like a paralegal can probably be kind of hard to get. So I was like wondering what's your input on that and I guess what kind of advice would you have for young professionals looking to looking to do the same work as you to pursue those kind of entry level jobs. Alkeyvia Haynes: so ⁓ as I dated myself, I w 2011. I I don't know, I guess I'm coming up on like fifteen years as a lawyer almost. ⁓ so I feel like back then it was the competition was more so trying to get into like the big law ⁓ firms ⁓ or whatnot. And I knew that I didn't want to do that, so I never applied because Listen, after working at Target eighty hours a week, I knew that that was not my life. That is not something that I wanted to be stuck at work for eighty eighty plus hours a week. ⁓ so I would say, you know, just kind of feel it out. Like, ⁓ law schools will give you like all the tools that you need to apply for whatever jobs that you want to, but you have to be like confident. Like I didn't have the best grades in law school. Well, after after after first year I did. First year was a bit of a struggle. But I knew what I like wanted to do and then even when I like didn't get the jobs that I wanted, I was still like, okay, well let me just do something else. And that's how I kind of got those like law clerk jobs. So like if you want to ⁓ like clerk for a judge, then make sure you have a strong writing background because that's what they look for. You gotta know how to write and you not gotta know how to research. So make sure you're ⁓ doing those things. If you want to go into big law, try to get those ⁓ summer jobs at a big law firm. So it's kind of like very specific in what ⁓ you want to do. But if you're like me, I just needed a job. And I was just like, I I need to work because I need money. ⁓ so I just took whatever job and kept applying and kept doing what what I needed to do. So Don't be afraid to explore. Don't be afraid to like change your mind. ⁓ the sky's the limit. Ilyne Deliquina: That's so good. So good. I'll keep you. And I'm like, I love the honesty. Like I just I needed to pay some bills. can you tell a little tell us a little bit about ⁓ how this related to like criminal justice and actually like how does that relate to what you're doing now with ⁓ OCPS with the students? Alkeyvia Haynes: So bel so believe it or not, like I just I wanted to be like so I also d I feel like now that I'm saying all this, I'm like, I did so much. And and in my mind like, ⁓ you did so little. ⁓ but when I was in law school, I actually ⁓ here in Florida we have a ⁓ we have legal clinics at our most of our law school. So I was a part of our juvenile law clinic. ⁓ Which gave me a good foundation for like what I'm doing now. where ⁓ so also here in Florida, anytime a student is arrested, we they have to notify the school district. And so there's like things that we have to do in order to ⁓ protect the rest of our students. So depending on what the student is arrested for. Like I have to advise my team on like, hey, so this is what we probably need to do with this student. So I feel like you you just like never know like what you're doing and how it's gonna lead to where you are now. And that was I don't know, two thousand nine. So like many, many moons ago. And now in my now job that I just got two years ago, I'm using that skill set. So you just kind of have to keep everything that you've learned. In the back of your mind. Ilyne Deliquina: That's so good. I I I personally value that too because ⁓ like I live the you know, the value of nothing is wasted. You know, you can always apply all those lessons learned and you're living proof of that as an attorney. So thank you for that. Let's go to Miguel. ⁓ no, is he frozen? There you go. Miguel Cardona: There we go. There. Okay, there we go. Perfect. Yeah, ⁓ so I just graduated high school, like a week ago, last Wednesday. so but yeah, I'm I'm going to ⁓ my local community college, Bucks County Community College, to be a biomedical engineer. So that's kind of where the trajectory of my life is going to. Alkeyvia Haynes: Okay. Ilyne Deliquina: And so let me hop in in here real quick. But Miguel has been doing these kinds of conversations with us for I don't know, three, four school years. So he's ⁓ really as you can tell, he does his research, he knows how to ask these great questions. But what I've also been noticing with Miguel is he will take an opportunity and run with it. Right. So when you talk about networking, right, it's kind of limited in high school, but you get started then. ⁓ And then also now that you're a a young adult, you're eighteen, you can, you know, make you dis some some decisions for yourself. He making one introduction and he's running with it. Al Kevia, can you speak a little bit? You you you you brought it up a little bit, but speak more to how networking ⁓ impacts your job as an attorney or just as a professional in general. Alkeyvia Haynes: So It's super important. But for me, I'm an introvert at heart, which is so crazy. So 'cause every time I tell people that they're like, So how are you an attorney? I don't know. I don't know. ⁓ so I I I literally don't know. ⁓ it's like from eight to five or whatever, I know how to turn it on. And then once I get home, it turns completely off. ⁓ to where I'm like, leave me alone. I don't want to talk to people. But As a part of my job, I know that's what I have to do, so I do it. And like for me, and this goes back to a a ⁓ the question that Djoser asked early is that about being a minority in a legal community. So it's always been important for me personally to be involved involved in my local bar associations just so I could have that support. Because at times it could be it's extremely hard being one of one. So you need that support system. Even if they're not in your field, you still need to be able to lean on people. And so, ⁓ and that that that is literally what networking is. It's not all it's not always I know people think of networking and it's like to help me get to that next step, but it's for me it's more about a support system. And ⁓ Making sure that like if I have a question or a concern that I have somebody to go to to discuss that. And then secondarily, it's also about like making those connections to get me to where I want to be in the future. ⁓ so going to the events, ⁓ meeting people, and then the the important thing which I struggle with is the follow-up. Cause I'm always like if I'm going to a networking event, I'm either like going home. So now I have to decompress ⁓ from being talking to people all day because like I said, I'm an introvert naturally, or I'm like going back to work and so I'm like diving into work and then I forget to follow up. So it's not about just meeting people, it's also about like the follow-up and making sure that you're like staying connected because just like you you need that person to be a support for you. You have to also be a support and a connection for that person as well. So it can't be like a one-way street. Ilyne Deliquina: Yes, that's so good. Thank you for bringing up that follow-up. ⁓ so I know Miguel has a conversation coming up later on this week and he's gonna be so prepared for those questions. But what Ariana brought up is also, you know, that marketing, like, and you you said it yourself, Alkeyvia, as far as marketing yourself, right? So you guys are already presenting yourself to Alkevia. Al Kivia's gonna think in the back of her mind, like, ooh, who's that one girl? You know, had that connection with Ulta, you know, ⁓ she might hear of something. Alkeyvia Haynes: Anyway. Ilyne Deliquina: That ⁓ you know, some opportunity for somebody in marketing or ⁓ or you know, Djoser who has an interest in silver rights and those kinds of things. So you it's one thing to talk about integrity, doing the right thing when no one's looking, but it's also like who are you and and and being real and authentic all the time, right? So you don't want to mislead people on what your interests are or your your skill level or your your your capacity or capability. So I love that ⁓ Vanessa and I have been getting to know you guys week after week and all these different interviews and these conversations because that is how we start to open up our our network. ⁓ so thank you for that conversation, Alkeyvia. And then we do have some time for Charles. Charles, why don't you go ahead and introduce yourself to to Alkevia? Charles G.: So I'm Charles. ⁓ I just graduated yesterday. ⁓ here in Philadelphia. ⁓ I will be attending Wyiner University with a major in community justice and a concentration in pre-law. ⁓ I will be attending as a UNCF Geronwing Scholar. ⁓ that's like a it will like cover the gap which and which financially it doesn't cover. Alkeyvia Haynes: Wow, congratulations. Charles G.: ⁓ yeah, I I think I wanna be a like right now, like my mind changes a lot. So like as of right now, I want to be a criminal defense attorney. Just because of like what I see in society, you know, ⁓ every day in Philadelphia is different. You know, one day it can be peaceful, it can be hot, sunny. Another day it can be peaceful, hot and sunny, but a bunch of like nonsense going on here. So ⁓ you know, just seeing that and how it impacts the youth, you know, it seems like it's getting worse. So I think that, you know, me seeing that problem can help fix the problem. Alkeyvia Haynes: Yeah. So if I can offer you a bit of advice, and this is something that I learned personally, is that ⁓ because like I said earlier, I wanted to be a criminal defense attorney because what about what I experienced with my cousin. ⁓ but what I realized in working at the prosecutor's office is that you as a prosecutor has way more power and you can fix the situation as the prosecutor as opposed to the defense attorney when you're like cleaning things up and trying to get your client off. As a prosecutor, I decided what cases I wanted to file. If I got a file and it didn't meet the requirements, guess what? I'm I'm not pursuing charges on that case. So just just something to keep in the back of your mind, like maybe extern or do a little shadowing of prosecutors because they actually hold the most power in the courtroom. 'Cause a prosecutor makes this decision on whether charges should be filed or whether they should be dropped. So kinda on the back, like I know everybody was like, look, criminal defense attorney, like he does everything, but actually it's that prosecutor that holds the most power in that courtroom. So think about that. Because I feel like in society right now and everything that we see going on, you hear like, ⁓ charges weren't filed or charges were filed and it's the prosecutor is the one that making that is making that decision on whether to file charges against that person. So just think about that. Ilyne Deliquina: That's so good, Alkevia. Very passionate about it too. ⁓ that is awesome. I feel like we don't get to hear those things. What did you pick up from Alkeyvia today? Charles G.: I picked up like a sense of like ⁓ like a sense of self within her, like like I'm I feel like I'm also introverted at hurt. Like once like, you know, like school's over now, like, so it was about to be a lot of less a lot of less like scammy. So I feel like You know, just knowing like wanna turn it on and wanna turn it off, you know, wanna be professional, wanna not be professional, you know, wanna keep work, work, and wanna keep home, home. I think that's important, you know. Especially for like, you know, she's an attorney, I know, you know, I know it's like long hours. balance isn't probably like, you know, where you want it to be, but like I said, you know, knowing to keep work at work and home and home is essential to like your mental and your peace. Ilyne Deliquina: That's right. You gotta know when to f fill fill that cup back up, you know, you gotta fuel up. So, but I will say you definitely wanna be on. You you still you you know, for women, we're gonna take our make makeup off, but we're still authentic to who we are. So ⁓ get that rest in, you know, it's summer, but when once you start, you know, start college, yeah, you gotta st you gotta stay on, Charles. But you know, you know how to fill it up. All right, Ariana, the college undergrad graduate here. ⁓ what did you pick up from our conversation with Alkeyvia today? Ariana M.: I definitely picked up that I have to market myself, but also that yes, it's important to know who you know, but I really like how you added that you also had to pick up skills. Your skills is kind of what you can use in order to like sell yourself and get those networking opportunities. And I also really did like the encouragement to kind of start off and do my own thing and hope that that also opens doors for me. Ilyne Deliquina: Yes. Build that portfolio which you have already linked to your resume. ⁓ as we've talked about. Djoser, what did you pick up in our conversation with Al Kibia today? Djoser Burruss: Yeah, was just kinda going back to like being the best of like even if you're like the only minority, just 'cause like I guess in certain spaces, if you're the only minority, you're kinda like the spokesperson for that entire group, for better or for worse. So just being the best that you can be is ⁓ you know it's good. ⁓ I mean I think just more you know, like it's kind of like a duty that you have, so just to be as be ⁓ good as possible is just really important. Ilyne Deliquina: Be the best that you can be, possibly. And you have potential Morehouse Men connections just in this conversation. So always putting it out there. Al Keepia, we're down to our last couple of minutes here. Can you share some final words of wisdom and encouragement for our young adult externs as they start their own professional and academic careers? Alkeyvia Haynes: ⁓ I think Charles brought it up, but ⁓ work life balance is very important. ⁓ for me. Like I said, going into when I was in law school, I knew that I could not do the ninety plus hours ⁓ every week. So there are weeks that I have to like work more than I need to that I would like to. ⁓ but Just make sure that you are always making time for those you love and the things that you love to do, I would say, because that what keeps you focused on what you need to do when you have that balance. And also like the sky is truly the limit. Like you can do whatever you want to do. ⁓ I would have never thought growing up in Liberty City that I would be an attorney. Like never thought that. ⁓ my mom always pushed me to be the best, but I was literally the first person in my family to graduate undergrad, nonetheless go to law school. So ⁓ you can do whatever you put your mind to. You just gotta put in the work to do it. And don't ever be afraid to shift, shift gears. And don't ever take a no as a no. A no is a not yet. not the right time or not the right space, but it's not a definite no. And always learn to pivot. Like if you don't and I know like this generation is way more ⁓ will do those things. Like they will pivot like in a second. But also I would I would say in pivoting, don't pivot the wrong way. Don't burn the bridges 'cause you never you will never forget. Like I said, my first job was for ⁓ Benjamin Crump, whoever who would have thought that he would be who he is now. but ⁓ that's a connection that I I I will always have, ⁓ because I didn't burn that bridge. So it's okay to pivot, but make sure you're pivoting the right way. Ilyne Deliquina: That's so good. Dropping all that wisdom. Alkeyvia ⁓ you again for taking the time to be with our young adult externs. ⁓ you've been listening to AccessCo Leaders, ⁓ Conversation, and we will see you next time. Let's see. ⁓ ⁓