Jessica Ann Firlej comes from a family of seven, is of Polish heritage, and is a Chicago native. She is a current junior at Loyola University Chicago, where she is studying Marketing and International Business and has completed a minor of Spanish Literature and Language. Jessica plans to attend law school after graduating Loyola University, where she is interested in furthering her professional studies. Jessica discovered Global Brigades through one of her close friends, Joanna, and spontaneously decided to volunteer on a medical and dental service trip as her first brigade.  Although Jessica is a business student, she was highly fascinated with the medical service experience and became inspired to participate on another brigade.  In January of 2014, Jessica will be participating on a Human Rights Service Brigade in Panama. She will be working with Panamanian lawyers to provide pro-bono legal consulting through a 7-day brigade in Panama. She will lead legal education workshops tailored to the community on various topics such as: the land titling process, government institutions, family law, property rights, business rights, conflict resolution, etc. She will be able to put her legal research to practice and shadow lawyers in developing solutions to various legal problems.  Embarking on this service trip is only the beginning of her journey in the field of law which she couldn't be more excited about!