Partner Debo Adegbile recently participated in a New York University program aimed at exposing eighth and ninth graders to various careers and the professional educations leading to them, including law school.

Mr. Adegbile, an NYU Law School graduate and trustee, told teenagers attending the NYU College & Career Lab summer program of his personal background as the US-born child of immigrants—a Nigerian father and an Irish mother—and his journey to where he is now.

He recalled for the students how, after witnessing from the visitors’ gallery his first US Supreme Court argument, he figured that if he never got to argue a case before the high court, that would be just fine. He found the thought of participating in oral argument “terrifying,” he told the young people. 

Years later, when he finally was offered the chance to argue a critical Voting Rights Act case, the Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District No.1 v. Holder, involving the preclearance requirements of Section 5 of the law, he realized the fears that stirred within him that first time he experienced the high court’s oral arguments as a spectator had not disappeared.

“My head said, hell no. My heart said, the whole reason you do what you do is so you have an opportunity to advocate for people who cannot advocate for themselves,” he said. Intense preparation, he explained, made it easier to face his fears.

To learn more about Mr. Adegbile’s visit with the students in the summer program, read the full article on NYU Law School’s website.