Seniors Sarina Harjani and Iris Do organized an after-school event for South students on April 24 to meet and network with Cook County judges and officials, Harjani said.

The event was created by Harjani’s family friends, Judge Ankur Srivastava, who encouraged her to organize the event. Students that attended the event also heard from Judges Sunil Bhave, Jasmine Hernandez, Christina Kye, Sanjay Tailor, and Rena Van Tine, Harjani said.

“[The judges] really wanted to start something at [South] to be able to connect with students,” Harjani said.

For Srivastava, his participation in mock-trial in high school encouraged him to enter the
legal field. He hopes this event will do the same for other South students, Srivastava said.

The gathering began because of a debate assignment where students were to create a service
project that related to the topics students debated over, Debate Teacher Jen Jun said. Students
are responsible for coordinating the event, Jun said.

“Any challenges or obstacles [the students face] encourages them to [problem solve and] find solutions,” Jun said.

Students in AP Government and Politics, Civics, Debate, Mock Trial, Law Club, and Model United Nations were invited to the event, Harjani said. The judges hope to inspire students to pursue or consider a career in law, Harjani said.

“Getting to actually meet with people who are judges is really great because it’s something that’s [not frequently] done,” Harjani said.

During the panel Srivastava hopes to talk with students about the many cases he sees as a judge and how he became a lawyer and then a judge, he said.

Srivastava hopes to inspire many students to enter the legal field to promote the importance
of advocating and fighting for democracy.

“Now more than ever, our country and our democracy needs talented lawyers to protect people’s rights,” Srivastava said “I hope that meeting with the talented students at GBS may inspire some of those students to consider a career in law.”