As part of the Institute's ongoing Career Conversations series, Cisneros Scholars interview professionals in their field of study to gain a glimpse into the challenges and opportunities that come with different career paths. Claire Avalos (Class of 2027) discussed her interest in the legal field with legal scholar and assistant professor of political science, Dr. Paz Avila.
I had the pleasure of interviewing Professor Paz Avila, Visiting Professor of Political Science at The George Washington University. Avila brings a strong background as a legal scholar and political scientist, specializing in Public Law and bridging the traditional field of American and Comparative Politics with an emphasis on constitutionalism and democratic backsliding. Her professional experience includes serving as a Visiting Professional at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in Costa Rica, law clerk at the Constitutional Court of Ecuador, and teaching at several universities throughout the United States and Latin America. Given my own interest in constitutional law and aspirations to become an attorney, Avila provided excellent insight into her journey as a Latina navigating the legal profession and what opportunities are available for those like her.
Avila was born and raised in a small town in Ecuador, and recounts how her upbringing shaped her work ethic in school. “My parents didn't have a lot of resources, so I knew that if I wanted to go to other places or study, I needed a scholarship.” With this knowledge, Avila dedicated her time to excelling in school in order to pursue a degree in law.
Despite her passion for the legal field, Avila realized that she wasn’t interested in working at big law firms after an undergraduate internship at a legal clinic. Instead, she was keen on doing legal research—specifically constitution-making processes and constitutional law.
"At that point in time, Ecuador was undergoing a constituent process. We were changing the constitution…So I decided to write my dissertation project for my law school based on the constitution-making process in Ecuador.” From there, Avila pursued a master’s degree in constitutional law, receiving a full-ride scholarship to study in the capital city of Quito in Ecuador.
Avila eventually became a law clerk at the Constitutional Court in Ecuador under Justice Nina Pacari Vega, the country’s first Indigenous constitutional justice. While working for Justice Vega was a dream come true, Avila witnessed a steady decline into authoritarianism within the Court as her clerkship progressed.
“The government became increasingly authoritarian. When Justice Vega quit the Constitutional Court, I did too. I didn't want to stay there. It was very sad to see people becoming part of this authoritarian machine across all branches of government, working against constitutional rights rather than upholding them. I couldn't do that, and I didn't want to be remembered for that.”
Avila describes her decision to leave the Constitutional Court—and the country she spent her entire life in—as one of the most pivotal career and personal decisions thus far.
After leaving Ecuador, Avila moved to the United States and began auditing law classes at Boston College as a means to sharpen her English skills while continuing to foster her interest in constitutional law. After many years of hard work, she then received the Dean’s Award Merit Scholarship at NYU Law to study legal theory and later earned a Master’s and PhD in Political Science from the University of Texas at Austin, focusing her dissertation on constitutional legitimacy.
Avila's mixed identity—growing up in Ecuador and establishing her career and family in the United States—have provided her a unique perspective of the world and its legal systems. She says, “Before I used to see that as a weakness, because I was not perhaps the student who was able to go to college in the U.S., because I didn't know how college worked, because I didn't know how to interact with the professors, because I didn't know the language, because it took me hours to write a paper, because it took me hours to read a paper. Now, I see it the other way around. I think that is my strength, because I have a vision and a life experience that almost no one has.”
At the end of the interview, Avila offered some advice for Latino students navigating their college career: “First, surround yourself with people who are curious and who dare to think differently…Also, ask for help. We don't have the privilege of having parents guiding us through this process in college. So, surround yourself with people who can give you advice so that you can actually become very confident about your experience in college. Because I know that for us, it's a little bit more challenging.”
Claire Avalos is a Class of 2027 Cisneros Scholar. Claire’s views are her own and not necessarily reflective of the Cisneros Institute.