A UConn law student is making it her mission to be a voice for an underrepresented community. She’s looking to not only be one of the few Pacific Islander attorneys in the nation, but an advocate for people in Saipan.

Walking through the halls of the UConn School of Law, first year student Lallane Guiao-Seng is laser-focused on earning her degree.

“It’s always been a mission of mine to get my law degree because I feel like it’s not something a lot of people have back home,” she said.

Home being Saipan, which is part of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands or CNMI, a U.S. territory in the Pacific. Guiao-Seng is half Chamorro, who are the native people on the islands.

“I always tell people that I’m proudly village raised and community grown, because if it weren’t for my community, I wouldn’t be where I am today,” she said.

She didn’t fully embrace her heritage when she started her undergrad at Wesleyan University saying explaining her identity was exhausting at times.

“Oh, you’re from Saipan? Where is that? What is that? Is that in South America? And I just hated having to give a geography and history lesson every time I did it,” Guiao-Seng said.

However, she realized this only served to marginalize her Chamorro roots further. So she decided to be proactive and be more open about her identity. The slight change paid huge dividends with classmates in college and law school, affirming her identity.

“They’ll pick up on stuff and be like ‘Lallane, I saw the Marianas Islands on the news.’” Guiao-Seng said.

It’s also propelled her to pass on customs and traditions to her two sons, so they’re aware of their Pacific Islander heritage.

“When my son brings a snack back to school, we tell him, ‘make sure you tell your friends, this is my favorite snack from Saipan.’ ‘Okay mommy.’,” she said.

Guiao-Seng says as she continues learning, she’s recognizing a clear need for law expertise in the CNMI.

“There’s going to be gaps in the law because of the cultural differences and I feel like I can bring that back home,” she said.

A survey last year by the American Bar Association found less than one percent of attorneys identified as Pacific Islander. Guiao-Seng says having the cultural awareness and legal expertise will help her connect with older Chamorro generations who may be reluctant to get help from younger folks.

“There’s no hierarchy in the law. We’re all the same and people just want to help each other, and we need to come from that same perspective,” she said.

A perspective she hopes allows her to make an impact after she graduates.

“At the end of the day, I just want people back home to realize that they are entitled to the same justices that are here,” Guiao-Seng said.