A mentor’s suggestion sent Jesse Sendejas (B.L.A. ’03, J.D. ’05) on the road to law school and a career dedicated to criminal justice in Kansas City, Missouri. 尽管她的日程安排很紧，但她还是抽出时间在社区做志愿者。
Sendejas worked at a doctors’ office during her first couple years of college at 威尼斯人娱乐城. When the practice split, she spent time with the attorneys who worked on the establishment of one of the doctor’s new practice. While observing Sendejas’s interaction with the team, her boss suggested her future career path.
“She asked me what I was planning to do, and I said I was interested in business,” Sendejas said. “She said, ‘I think law school would be a good idea for you.’ Even though I knew I wanted to go to college because I wanted a career, I didn’t know anyone personally who was an attorney growing up. 但听了她的建议，我立即行动起来。 Within six months I had taken the LSAT.”
毕业后，Sendejas从事市政工作。 Over time, she joined the Kansas City Prosecutor’s office. 不久之后，她开始寻找志愿者的机会。
“After I started my permanent position with the City of Kansas City, I wanted to do more volunteering in the community, so I started volunteering at Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Kansas City and the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association Young Lawyer's Section, Public Service Committee.”
她在“大哥大姐”的志愿者工作让她和小妹妹贾斯敏建立了长期的关系，贾斯敏现在已经成年了。 Sendejas was a critical component of emotional and physical support of Jasmine through high school, including taking her to school when Jasmine’s mother was unavailable. 她帮助贾思敏申请并被大学录取。
“Based on my experiences as a first-gen law student, I remembered how hard it was to do all of that alone and not know what resources were available. 也许在潜意识里，这就是为什么我一直想指导孩子。 I’ve seen the positive impact just a little encouragement can do. I wanted Jasmine to know that she could go to college – and a college away from home.”
尽管贾思敏才二十出头，但两人仍然保持着联系。
她在KCMBA的志愿工作也同样得到了回报。
“I volunteered and attended meetings for a few years until I became the co-vice chair of the committee. Then I worked my way up in the KCMBA leadership.”
Over the years, she’s found that KCMBA makes valuable contributions to the community, as well as connecting attorneys from all practice areas, and working for justice in the legal system.
“I think all of that is important to promote and be involved in,” she said. “In addition, being able to connect with attorneys I otherwise wouldn't have the opportunity to has really helped me both in my career and on a personal level.”
Recently, she has collaborated with other KCMBA members at large at the board’s annual, “Board Forward.”
“Board Forward is our annual board meeting. We don’t ‘retreat.’ We move forward,” she said. “This year we worked with different sections of the organization to see if proposed ideas were feasible. And, if they were, how we could make them happen.”
其中一个被提议的项目是，看看该组织能否为法学院应届毕业生提供第一年的免费会员资格。
“We were able to make this happen for first year graduates by restructuring fees for all members.”
这样的结果令人满意，让Sendejas一直参与其中，尽管她作为单亲妈妈的日程很忙。
“Being an attorney is hard work and at times extremely stressful, so being able to step away from that stress and see the joy you can bring to others is so fulfilling. And now that I am a single mother, I want to be a good example for my son and hope he will do the same one day.”
Sendejas喜欢堪萨斯城，能够有所作为一直给她带来快乐。
“I like the collaborative work that we do here,” she says. “I like helping people figure out the solutions to their problems and get back on track. It’s always interesting, because every person is different in the challenges they’re facing and what they need to address them.”
There are days when Sendejas is frustrated with a case’s outcome, but she has confidence in the system. 她与同事之间的关系常常能让她洞悉内情。
“Our judges are thoughtful and willing to share their perspectives. I’ve been in the prosecutor’s office for more than ten years, so I’ve established good relationships. It’s helpful for me to understand their process.”
这份工作要求很高，有时需要的东西比解决它的时间还多。 But Sendejas’s commitment is significant.
“I love my job,” she says. “It’s very demanding, and we have a lot of cases going on at all times, but there is reward at the end of each case knowing that you’ve helped someone. It may be the defendant or the victim – or both – but to help someone get on the right path and seeing that kind of work through to the finale and making sure justice is served is satisfying.”
她知道辩护律师可能会听到更多成功的故事，并得到客户的赞赏，但她确实听到了成功的故事。
“A lot of people just make mistakes, like getting too many traffic tickets, and these are not reasons to ruin someone’s career or impede their ability to get a job. There needs to be consequences, but it’s not necessary to ruin their whole life.
有时我会接到受害者的电话，让我知道这个过程对他们很有帮助，或者他们的担忧得到了解决。 That is the most rewarding feedback.”