Tarana Zaheed: Splitting Her Time Between Miami and London

    Miami and London are two cities Tarana Zaheed has gotten to know well over the past three years. Before starting law school at the University of Miami in August of 2000, Tarana spent the spring semester of her senior year studying abroad in London. After completing her first year of law school at the University of Miami, Tarana was back in the UK, participating in UM Law's summer program in London. Now as a second-year law student, Tarana is enjoying her third extended stay in London in as many years.

Tarana is a recipient of a fellowship from the University of Miami School of Law's Helping Others Through Pro Bono Efforts (HOPE) program. She is using her HOPE Fellowship this semester to intern at the Refugee Council in London. The Refugee Council is a charitable organization that supports asylum seekers and refugees in the United Kingdoms. The wide-array of services provided by the Refugee Council range from caring for unaccompanied refugee children to lobbying for the refugee community in the United Kingdom and across Europe. "As an intern, I monitor legal developments in the UK's immigration and asylum legislation and provide legal referrals to the refugee community on matters concerning immigration and asylum." To keep pace with her fellow second-year law students back in Miami, Tarana is taking classes at the University College London.

Before returning to Miami to start her third year in August, Tarana will be adding to her frequent flyer mileage. In April, Tarana will go to California to visit her family and clerk for a couple months at the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. Next, she'll be returning to Bangladesh for a summer internship with the Department of State's Bureau of South Asian Affairs at the American Embassy in Dhaka. It will be her first visit to Bangladesh since her family emigrated in 1988.

As an undergraduate, political science major, Tarana developed an interest in international relations. "I chose UM over other schools because of its recognition in international law". Ironically, between the required classes of the first year, and two semesters abroad her second year, Tarana has not yet had the opportunity to take many international law classes at UM. She used her one elective during the first year to take Public Interest Law with Professor Mahoney and that turned out to be a wise selection. Not only did the class provide her with the opportunity to do some research in international law, it also led to some great practical experience in immigration law. Professor Mahoney introduced Tarana to the Florida Immigration Advocacy Center where Tarana became involved as a volunteer. As a volunteer, Tarana assisted attorneys at the center during the spring of 2001 and again in the fall of 2001. Her work involved interviewing detained immigrants, recording their testimonies, and then preparing testimonies, as well as other evidence, for immigration hearings.

Another valuable experience came in the form of independent research. "Professor Frank Valdes provided me with an amazing learning opportunity in U.S. constitutional law by making me trace the origins of a critical Supreme Court doctrine in equal protection jurisprudence". Tarana gathered material for a chapter that Professor Valdes is writing for an anthology on anti-discrimination law to be published in the United Kingdom. She has continued with this project in London by working on a comparative study of anti-discrimination law in the United Kingdom and the European Union.