Help Me Go To Ryerson Law School!
Donation protected
My name is Ish Aderonmu. Ten years ago I found myself on bail and awaiting trial for a drug trafficking charge. Today I am paying that experience forward as a criminal justice advocate. I was born in Nigeria, grew up in the United States, and now call Toronto home.
The total cost of Ryerson Law tuition and living expenses for me is $70,400 per year. I applied for financial aid through the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) and I received $15,976 ($6288 in grants +9688 in loans) in funding. I also applied for and was awarded 'The Blakes Scholar Scholarship", a $10,000 entrance scholarship awarded to full-time students entering their first year at Ryerson Faculty of Law's JD Program who demonstrate an aptitude for business or entrepreneurship.
**Please note that scholarship and OSAP funding (anticipated) is INCLUDED in what's reflected in the total amount raised so far....**
Funds received
September 3, 2020: OSAP - $9586.00
October 15, 2020 Blakes Scholarship - $10,000
GoFundme Donations(after fees): $12,727 (as of November 30, 2020)
I applied for a Professional Line of Credit for law school from Scotiabank and I was denied. I've explored all the options and I'm at a dead end.
Here's the breakdown in Canadian dollars:
$ 21,168.00 - Ryerson Law Tuition
$ 1,100.00 - Ancillary Fees
$ 1,000.00 - Books and Supplies
$ 26,400.00 - Rent and Utilities
$ 6000.00 - Food
$ 400.00 - Health and Dental Plan
$ 1,580.00 - Transportation (Student TTC pass + Taxi)
$ 6,000.00 - Other Costs (personal care, clothing, self-care)
$ 2340.00- Psychotherapy
_______________
$ 70,400 - Year 1 Total Annual Cost
One day in 2018, I came across this fateful episode of 60 Minutes - and I cannot emphasize enough just how important this episode was to my forthcoming journey - where the person featured was a convicted bank robber from Nebraska. He had turned his life around, became a lawyer, and was now a professor at Georgetown Law. This sparked something inside of me. I’ve always had an interest in the legal field, I mean I would read long criminal indictments just for fun, so I decided to look further into a legal career and here I am.
They Called Me Prisoner 183645 via Toronto Life
He was in a US jail 10 years ago He starts law school in Toronto this fall via The Star
Convicted drug offender among Ryerson University Law School first cohort via Ron Fanfair
If you are able to please support me in any way, I would really appreciate it.
Thank you so much for your generous support!
Cheers,
"Justice is not only the absence of oppression — it is the presence of opportunity. Justice is making sure that every young person knows that they are special and their lives matter. Justice is living up to the common creed that I am my brother’s keeper and I am my sister’s keeper. Justice and redemption go hand in hand." — President Barack Obama
Frequently Asked Questions:
What area of law do I plan to pursue?
I certainly have an interest in Criminal law but I am more interested in systems change. For me, being a Criminal Defense lawyer is not going to contribute to that. I want to specifically change colonial racist systems that exist. I’d be interested in working for the Crown Attorney but under the circumstance of working in a Conviction Integrity Unit. In Philly, there is a new District Attorney who has revived the Conviction Integrity Unit over there where their only job is to look at old cases and find holes - old cases that their office actually convicted. In two years, seven people have gotten out of life without parole sentences based on this targeted investigation into cases they worked on. I mean, these are people’s lives so I think this is extremely important. Another thing is, I just resigned from the Board of Directors of the John Howard Society (see here for full statement ) and I think there is a problem with the government giving money to these kinds of organizations without proper oversight - maybe I could be a part of that solution.
What do I hope to accomplish with my J.D.?
I understand that it’s natural for students to enter with the mindset of following a traditional law student path but I hope our cohort knows that we don’t have to do things like that. There are so many ways to make an impact. For me, this idea of a “prestigious” title that comes with being a lawyer isn’t what interests me, it isn’t why I’m going to law school. Someone asked me in 2018 why I want to go to law school, and my answer was that I have a lot to say and no one will listen to me right now. And honestly, that still kind of rings true. Getting a law degree will mean no one can take that away from me, and I’ll be able to control my destiny. I’m not going into law school thinking “who am I going to work for?” - that’s just not my attitude. I want to study all of these areas of law and ask myself what value do I bring? If you’re anti-black, anti-indigenous, misogynistic, I don’t want to work around you. I don’t want to enter into a structure that was built for white dudes. I’ve had enough of that. Now, there are ways that I can work in that structure but it won’t be in a traditional way, and that’s the path I’ll be going on. A law degree will empower me to dedicate my full energy to shaping a legal system that affords everyone equitable access to justice; a mission that can only be achieved if the legal profession itself becomes more diverse, inclusive, and accessible.
The total cost of Ryerson Law tuition and living expenses for me is $70,400 per year. I applied for financial aid through the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) and I received $15,976 ($6288 in grants +9688 in loans) in funding. I also applied for and was awarded 'The Blakes Scholar Scholarship", a $10,000 entrance scholarship awarded to full-time students entering their first year at Ryerson Faculty of Law's JD Program who demonstrate an aptitude for business or entrepreneurship.
**Please note that scholarship and OSAP funding (anticipated) is INCLUDED in what's reflected in the total amount raised so far....**
Funds received
September 3, 2020: OSAP - $9586.00
October 15, 2020 Blakes Scholarship - $10,000
GoFundme Donations(after fees): $12,727 (as of November 30, 2020)
I applied for a Professional Line of Credit for law school from Scotiabank and I was denied. I've explored all the options and I'm at a dead end.
Here's the breakdown in Canadian dollars:
$ 21,168.00 - Ryerson Law Tuition
$ 1,100.00 - Ancillary Fees
$ 1,000.00 - Books and Supplies
$ 26,400.00 - Rent and Utilities
$ 6000.00 - Food
$ 400.00 - Health and Dental Plan
$ 1,580.00 - Transportation (Student TTC pass + Taxi)
$ 6,000.00 - Other Costs (personal care, clothing, self-care)
$ 2340.00- Psychotherapy
_______________
$ 70,400 - Year 1 Total Annual Cost
One day in 2018, I came across this fateful episode of 60 Minutes - and I cannot emphasize enough just how important this episode was to my forthcoming journey - where the person featured was a convicted bank robber from Nebraska. He had turned his life around, became a lawyer, and was now a professor at Georgetown Law. This sparked something inside of me. I’ve always had an interest in the legal field, I mean I would read long criminal indictments just for fun, so I decided to look further into a legal career and here I am.
They Called Me Prisoner 183645 via Toronto Life
He was in a US jail 10 years ago He starts law school in Toronto this fall via The Star
Convicted drug offender among Ryerson University Law School first cohort via Ron Fanfair
If you are able to please support me in any way, I would really appreciate it.
Thank you so much for your generous support!
Cheers,
"Justice is not only the absence of oppression — it is the presence of opportunity. Justice is making sure that every young person knows that they are special and their lives matter. Justice is living up to the common creed that I am my brother’s keeper and I am my sister’s keeper. Justice and redemption go hand in hand." — President Barack Obama
Frequently Asked Questions:
What area of law do I plan to pursue?
I certainly have an interest in Criminal law but I am more interested in systems change. For me, being a Criminal Defense lawyer is not going to contribute to that. I want to specifically change colonial racist systems that exist. I’d be interested in working for the Crown Attorney but under the circumstance of working in a Conviction Integrity Unit. In Philly, there is a new District Attorney who has revived the Conviction Integrity Unit over there where their only job is to look at old cases and find holes - old cases that their office actually convicted. In two years, seven people have gotten out of life without parole sentences based on this targeted investigation into cases they worked on. I mean, these are people’s lives so I think this is extremely important. Another thing is, I just resigned from the Board of Directors of the John Howard Society (see here for full statement ) and I think there is a problem with the government giving money to these kinds of organizations without proper oversight - maybe I could be a part of that solution.
What do I hope to accomplish with my J.D.?
I understand that it’s natural for students to enter with the mindset of following a traditional law student path but I hope our cohort knows that we don’t have to do things like that. There are so many ways to make an impact. For me, this idea of a “prestigious” title that comes with being a lawyer isn’t what interests me, it isn’t why I’m going to law school. Someone asked me in 2018 why I want to go to law school, and my answer was that I have a lot to say and no one will listen to me right now. And honestly, that still kind of rings true. Getting a law degree will mean no one can take that away from me, and I’ll be able to control my destiny. I’m not going into law school thinking “who am I going to work for?” - that’s just not my attitude. I want to study all of these areas of law and ask myself what value do I bring? If you’re anti-black, anti-indigenous, misogynistic, I don’t want to work around you. I don’t want to enter into a structure that was built for white dudes. I’ve had enough of that. Now, there are ways that I can work in that structure but it won’t be in a traditional way, and that’s the path I’ll be going on. A law degree will empower me to dedicate my full energy to shaping a legal system that affords everyone equitable access to justice; a mission that can only be achieved if the legal profession itself becomes more diverse, inclusive, and accessible.
Organizer
Ish Aderonmu
Organizer
Toronto, ON