My name is Araceli, and I am thrilled to be one of your fellows! I grew up in Eastern North Carolina with two brothers. I now live forty minutes outside of Nashville, in Ashland City, with my wonderful husband and rescue chocolate lab mix. Our family also includes four reptiles—and yes, that does include a snake. My husband and I spend our weekends riding our Harleys, trying new food, or couch-rotting with our fur baby to a good show. I have known I wanted to be a lawyer since my first year of high school when I started mock trial. I competed for eight years and coached both high school and college for two. Surprise, surprise—I plan to be a litigator at a big law firm in Nashville.

I wanted to join the Academic Success Fellows because I greatly benefited from the mentorship of my Academic Fellow. As a first generation law student, there was (and honestly still is) a lot about the legal field that I did not understand. But my fellow Academic Success Fellows and I hope to make the transition a little easier. Law school and the legal career can be demanding, but it is the people you surround yourself with and the opportunity to make a difference that make it all worthwhile.

So if you need a resource, a friend, or just a slew of puppy pictures, I’m your gal.