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My Story - Zac Ista

Zac Ista - Law School Student
American University

I don't know anyone else who makes a point of getting to Harry's Restaurant in time for the BBQ beef sandwich lunch special when they are in Washington, DC.  I've never seen Harry's listed in the travel books or in the Washington Post's restaurant guide, and there isn't much of a line to get a table. 

But during my first week as a new DC resident, lunch at Harry's was a big priority.  You see, Harry's is located on the ground floor of the Hotel Harrington - hallowed ground for many Pay It Forward Tour alumni, as the Harrington with all its charm (how many hotels do you know with 6-bed rooms available?) is the typical home for Tours culminating in the Nation's Capitol.  For me, that has meant spending parts of three spring breaks at the venerable Harrington (and I must confess that I've stayed at the Harrington even when I visited DC on my own).  In many ways, it was these Tours (I'm up to 5 in total) plus my other involvement with STLF that has led me to call Washington my home as of this August.  

Back to School - Washington College of Law

This fall, I'm a first year law student at American University's Washington College of Law (WCL).  The school is a top-rate institution with a top-rate tuition approaching $40,000 a year for the three year program. Now that expense is a wise investment considering talented and ambitious young lawyers can make upwards of $150,000 even in the infancy of their careers.  But most of those jobs come at the top firms defending corporate interests and spending 70, 80, 90, or more hours a week at the office. I didn't want to go to law school just to inevitably "sell my soul" like this in order to pay back student loans. 

I wanted, instead, to be the type of lawyer that makes a difference in public interest and public service matters - a fact that's not surprising considering the impact STLF has had on me.  Regrettably, public interest lawyers aren't making $150,000 or anything near that.  In fact, they are usually not making enough to even keep up with their loan payments. 

WCL, more than any other institute in the country, recognizes this awful reality.  It saw that its graduates truly wanted to use their law degrees to make a difference and give back, but students were hamstrung under the average $188,000 debt that WCL's graduates have.  To rectify this, WCL started the Public Interest/Public Service Scholarship Program (PIPS) which gives three-year full-tuition scholarships to select students each year.  This merit-based scholarship asks applicants to demonstrate a past commitment to public service and articulate their future commitment in the area. 

Once I learned about the scholarship and read the application, I knew my experience with the Pay It Forward Tour and other STLF activities made me a perfect fit.  In many ways, it was appropriately serendipitous that I was sharing a meal with STLF co-founder Greg Tehven when I received the phone call notifying me that I won the scholarship. 

Not only do I credit STLF with giving me the proper credentials for the scholarship, but more importantly, STLF allowed me to grow as a person committed to leadership in public service and public interest.   Now, thanks to STLF and Washington College of Law, I can pursue these passions without the crippling restrictions of massive student debt.  Indeed, a career in public interest/public service law might, for me, be the ultimate way to continually "pay it forward." 
 
Now if only that scholarship would come with a stipend for the BBQ beef sandwich at Harry's...

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