My name is Anne McCabe and I am a proud alumna of the MVC class of 2012 – 2013. During my year of service, I lived in Queens, NY and worked as an immigration counselor at Catholic Migration Services (CMS) in Brooklyn, NY. To say that this year was a formative one for my career as well as my overall growth is an understatement. Prior to volunteering with CMS, I had always been interested in immigration law, but had very little practical experience working with underprivileged members of an already marginalized community. With CMS, I was able to provide legal services to indigent clients who would otherwise be forced to navigate through the intricacies and complexities of immigration law on their own.

My work with CMS was incredibly rewarding, as I was able to see so many of my clients celebrate the approval of an application and I knew that I had played a tiny part in changing their lives forever. That is not to say that there were no failures along the way, but each of these challenges taught me something new about the law, and will hopefully make me a better advocate for immigrants in the future. After completing my year of service in NY, I attended the University of Maryland School of Law and I am now serving as a judicial law clerk for the seven immigration judges in Baltimore City. My time with CMS deepened my interest in immigration law and instilled in me the desire to provide aid to those most in need. I hope to continue my career in immigration law as a public defender, providing advice to immigrant offenders on the immigration consequences of criminal convictions.

While my experience at CMS solidified my desire to pursue immigration law as a career, perhaps the most important experiences I had during my year of service were with my community members (shout out to Liz, Amanda, and Becca) as well as the MVC alumnae that helped us along the way (here’s looking at you Kerry, Jess, Katie, and Bri). From Amanda’s color-coded list of affordable things to do in New York to countless nights watching the Bachelor in Jess’s apartment, I have incredible memories of each and every one of these amazing women and I am so grateful to have them in my life. We still keep in touch via email thread and we try to have a reunion every chance we get. This last February, we gathered in Connecticut to reminisce about our shared experiences over an afternoon of glow-bowling and I cannot wait until the next time we get together. 

For all of these things and more, I would just like to say “thank you” to MVC. Thank you for lifelong friends. Thank you for helping to lay the foundation of my career. And thank you for teaching me the importance of compassion in the service of others.

Anne McCabe: New York City