Dream big
September 14, 2006Federal Judge Roger Gregory tells Sacramento High teens to aim high
By Ralph Montaño -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Thursday, January 13, 2005
Don't be afraid to have big dreams, a federal appeals court judge told a group of Sacramento High School students Monday.
"When I take off my robe, I want you to be there to put it on," Judge Roger Gregory told about 100 students from the high school's Law and Public Service program. "If you can't see yourself there, then you can't get there."
Gregory is the first African American to serve on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va. He was appointed to the post temporarily by former President Bill Clinton, and then reappointed by President Bush and confirmed by the Senate.
Gregory visited Sacramento as part of a program that teams a local law school with a high school to prepare more students, especially minorities, for a law career.
University of the Pacific's McGeorge School of Law began a partnership with the school in 2002, said Janet Konttinen, McGeorge spokeswoman.
Gregory is not the first major guest the program has brought to the school. Pierre Prosper, the U.S. ambassador-at-large for war crimes, visited students last year.
Gregory spoke briefly about the law and Brown v. Board of Education, which ended segregation in public schools, but most of his discussion focused on personal issues.
He talked about growing up in Petersburg, Va., and being the first person in his family to graduate from high school. He urged students not to be satisfied with small successes in life, but to push for larger goals.
"Dig your well in the dry season," he said. "Don't be satisfied with the superficial."
Students said afterward that they took his advice to heart.
De Anna Merrill, a 17-year-old senior, said she has dreamed of one day being a judge since she was in the sixth grade.
"He was an inspiration. He uplifted me," she said. "Sometimes you need to see a person who has had your dream and reached it to know that you can, too."
Elizabeth Rindskopf Parker, dean of McGeorge School of Law, said the partnership between her school and the high school is being talked about by other law schools around the country.
People such as Judge Gregory have already seen the benefit to their profession when they reach out to children, she said.
"Judges and lawyers are already doing it," she said. "It's time for law schools to join them."
