Elizabeth Alvarez wrote a letter to the judges of her senior project explaining her career interest in immigration law. She has wanted to be a lawyer since she was young. For her project, she created a portfolio of the tactics an immigration lawyer must use and wrote a research paper on the increasing demand for immigration lawyers. While working on her project, she faced obstacles like not being able to meet frequently with her facilitator and not being able to observe some legal proceedings. However, the project helped her learn she is capable of achieving her goals and reinforced her interest in pursuing international affairs or political science in college to possibly work for an embassy.

1. 1550 Owens Store Road
Canton, GA 30115
April 18, 2012
Judges, Senior Project
Creekview High School
1550 Owens Store Road
Canton, GA 30115
Dear Judges:
Hello, my name is Elizabeth Alvarez and I have decided to pursue the career of an Immigration
Lawyer. The reason I decided to choose this project is that ever since I was young I always
wanted to be a lawyer just like a family friend. This dream has followed my throughout my
childhood and my young adult life. I aspire to go on to college and earn a degree in either
political science or international affairs. With either type of degree I aspire to work for an
embassy in another country for the United States. One of my goals in the future is to assist
Hispanic students throughout their middle and high school years, so they may continue on to
college and make a good life for themselves.
My product is a portfolio of my observations and tactics that an immigration lawyer must take
throughout on a case. My research paper was on the topic of the demand for immigration lawyers
over the past decades. In my research I found out that there is a great demand for immigration
lawyers and a promising outlook for jobs in the near future. I also discovered that immigration
lawyers who are well prepared and follow the correct process are more likely to get more job
opportunities than the ones who do not follow the correct procedures. While creating my
product, I encountered many obstacles that slowed me down in creating my product. One
obstacle that I encountered was not being able to meet with my facilitator as often as I wanted to.
A solution to this problem was to meet some days afterschool when I did not have to work or
during the days that we had no school. Another obstacle that I encountered was all the legal
obstacles that prevented me from observing and taking notes during some court cases or
naturalization ceremonies. To solve this problem, I had to receive permission from my
facilitator’s clients in order to observer during their cases and ceremonies.
The topic of my research paper was the immigration process and the effect it has on immigration
lawyers. The increase in immigration has also caused the demand for immigration lawyers to
increase. Through this process I have learned that I must strive to get everything completed more
quickly and more efficiently. Thanks to this project, I have learned that I am capable of
achieving my goals on time. I have decided to go to college at Georgia State University and
either major in Political Science or International Affairs. With one of these majors, I would
prefer to pursue a career in an embassy and not in immigration law.
This senior project at first is like a great pain to go through, but at the end it gives you an insight
on the kind of career you believe you would like to pursue and helps you choose whether or not
it is the one you want to. This project is a learning experience that must be taken seriously in

2. order to learn from it. Without this opportunity, I might have ended up in a job that I would not
enjoy to the maximum.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Alvarez