“What the hell are you doing? Are you making the world a better place?”

I had this epiphany one day when I was driving my sports car from the “nice” University of the Pacific neighborhood to the “barrio” south of town. When I got out of high school, I thought I was cool because I had gone to a trade school, had a good job, and was playing semi-pro baseball in Stockton, California. I was on the wrong path.

I called my parents to tell them that I was ready to make a change and come home. They had always tried to teach me to do the right thing and make the world a better place. I moved back to Colorado, gave up my sports car for “Josephine”—a VW bug on her last legs—finished college in less than four years, and decided to go to law school. I became involved with immigration and human rights issues, and since then, I’ve tried to help immigrants, migrant workers and refugees by always moving hacia la luz or “towards the light.”