April F. Adeeyo, Esq. 

In the spring of 2010, I was an enthusiastic college senior who had just been accepted to Teach for America. Though I was excited and relieved to know I was a newly minted Corps Member, I was incredibly nervous about embarking on a new journey, in a new city, with  no formal coursework in education whatsoever. 

All the enthusiasm and jitters went out of the window once my classroom was filled with 31 screaming 8th graders on my first day of teaching. I witnessed a fight, consoled a kid enraged to learn another student revealed his family was homeless, and reprimanded two young ladies inappropriately touching each other at lunch. Needless to say, I was overwhelmed, under trained, and definitely underpaid. 

Yet, I wouldn't trade the experience of my first year teaching for anything in the world. It was an invaluable opportunity to witness the resilience and tenacity of the human spirit, as my students faced all odds and still came to school, worked hard, and survived. Teachers, despite being  criticized from all angles, hung in there and took care of our kids as best we could with very little support and few resources. 

Teaching transformed my life. I went from being an idealistic kid who studied socio-economic injustice in sociology and political science classes, to experiencing first hand how failed policy, poverty, and inequality had a pervasive impact on how a kid gets to learn, grow, and thrive. 

Each day I was in my classroom, I became more angry with the system that I was now apart of. After my first year of teaching, I decided that I would be the change rather than continue to complain. Consequently, my journey from the classroom to the courtroom began.

This platform is not just any old legal blog. It is an avenue to raise awareness about the pervasive issues that continue to exist within America's schools. It delves into various issues preventing underrepresented minority groups from accessing higher education. Most importantly, this is a forum to share ideas, knowledge, and potential solutions for real and lasting change.

I am so excited about the launch of Education Esquire because of my love of writing, eagerness to learn, and desire to reform the American education system. Thanks for joining me on this journey!