When Sam Haddad graduated from high school, he could only afford to buy one of the graduation essentials: a yearbook or regalia. He chose the yearbook and borrowed the cap and gown from the school, having to return them before they would release his diploma.
He grew up in San Bernardino, California, in a single-parent, low-income, immigrant household where his passion for educational accessibility began at a young age. Growing up, Haddad went to school in a well-funded neighboring district. Every day, on the way to and from school, he witnessed the stark contrast between environments with vastly different resources. Throughout high school, he was committed to educational accessibility to bridge that gap, a commitment that continued when he attended UCLA for college.
In college, Haddad majored in public affairs to deepen his knowledge of how policy ideas become law. He applied to law school while an undergrad and was accepted at Yale Law School. He deferred a year to gain real-world experience and participated in the Coro Fellowship, a nine-month, full-time leadership incubator that pairs participants with executives across sectors in Southern California. The fellowship changed Haddad’s view of the relationship between public and private sectors and fueled many of his pursuits in law school.
Receiving the Hurst Horizon Scholarship solidified Haddad’s decision to come to Yale Law School. “Hurst was why I chose YLS, hands down,” he said. For Haddad, the scholarship offered an extraordinary amount of autonomy. Because of the scholarship, Haddad has been able to work both summers during law school, spend time during the academic year pursuing classes and extracurriculars he might not have otherwise sought out, and support his family even while living across the country.
Also, with that autonomy, he has been active in student government as the student body president of Yale’s 14 graduate and professional schools through Yale’s Graduate and Professional Student Senate, organized a conference on educational accessibility with more than 300 attendees, served as a Chae Fellow in the Tsai Leadership Program, worked as a research assistant in taxation policy, and gained client-facing experience as a member of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Clinic and the Community Economic Development Clinic.
The freedom of graduating with very little student debt will allow him to become debt-free quickly. “I cannot stand the idea of having any debt from law school,” he said. With that freedom, he can pursue whatever career path he desires. He plans to eventually return to San Bernardino and work to catalyze economic development there, positively impacting the community where he grew up.
“Had I graduated with six figures of debt, I would not be able to go back to my home region or spend my free time there for the foreseeable future, maybe for the next decade.”
On Need-Based Aid
“Because of the autonomy and freedom I’ve had in law school as a result of the Hurst Horizon Scholarship, 1) I was able to take out fewer loans for my second and third years. I’m graduating with very limited debt, debt which I can knock out in the first few months of practice… and 2) I got to use that money to support my family during some difficult periods. Instead of reducing my aid, the Hurst Horizon Scholarship allowed me to keep my earnings, so, I got to support my family. I would not have been able to do that under any other scholarship program in any other school.”
“I can go do whatever it is I want. If I want to run for office or pursue entrepreneurship through acquisition, I can. That is something that so many at other schools just don’t have the autonomy to do.”
Yale Law School and the Hurst Horizon Scholarship
“There’s a level of financial autonomy and freedom through Hurst. As a result, I’ve been able to do things on campus that I wouldn’t have been able to do because I would have needed to work.”
“I got to do clinical work and take on extra courses. I didn’t have to worry about working another job in the middle of law school to minimize my debt load because I had the Hurst Horizon scholarship.”
“To see [Soledad Hurst’s ’92] care and consideration manifested through a scholarship program that will very tangibly alter the rest of my life means a lot to me. It meant a lot to me when I received it, but I didn’t realize the extent to which it would alter the course of my life, professionally and personally.”