Mount Holyoke, Hamilton Alumni Admitted to Prestigious Law Schools
This fall Mount Holyoke College Posse alum Sara Sarmiento and Hamiton College alum Brenda Narvaez will be attending Stanford Law School and Cornell Law School respectively. Both were inspired to pursue J.D. degrees as a way to give back to their communities.
Reflecting on her journey to law school, Sara says, “I was born in Colombia and immigrated to the United States, growing up amidst the social issues related to guerrilla warfare and narcotics trafficking that affected my homeland. This background naturally inclined me towards helping my community, whether in Colombia or in my new home.”
This inclination brought Sara back to Miami after college, where she has been an educator for the last three years in the Miami-Dade County Public Schools, most recently serving as a third-grade teacher.
Sara describes navigating the law school application process, first while a student at Mount Holyoke and later as a teacher, as a daunting task.
“I had to be incredibly self-reflective,” she says. “A big challenge was to remain true to my original aspirations despite the passage of time and the evolving understanding of what I sought from a legal career. Ultimately, I hope to use my Stanford legal education as a tool to serve underprivileged communities.”
Sara credits her experience at Mount Holyoke and Posse for contributing to her success.
“My Posse mentor, James Harold, believed in me profoundly; he was like a second parent. My informal mentor, Kimberly Foreiter, a Posse Miami Mount Holyoke College alum who attended Harvard Law, served as a significant inspiration. These relationships were crucial in maintaining my motivation and resilience throughout this journey.”
Brenda will enroll at Cornell Law School as a recipient of a full-tuition Posse graduate affiliate scholarship . Like Sara, Brenda’s career to date has been grounded in service to her community, most recently at the Fair Food Council in Central Florida, where she audited farms to ensure compliance with labor and safety standards. Prior to this role, she taught English in Korea.
“I’m originally from Homestead, Florida, which is a farming community. Growing up in a predominantly immigrant neighborhood with a single mother, I was always struck by the underrepresentation of agricultural workers in academic spaces.”
This upbringing, combined with the academic and professional experiences has inspired Brenda to use her law degree to advocate for these communities.
Giving credit to Posse’s cohort model, she says, “Being a Posse Scholar was transformative. It provided me with a built-in support system of peers who were navigating the same new environment at Hamilton, which felt as different as another country compared to Miami. This network was crucial. As they say, it takes a village – or a Posse.”
