Former teacher Rupa Ramadurai now works as an attorney who works towards the improvement of educational opportunities for all students. Photo credit: Rupa Ramadurai

Many talented educators have used their experience in the classroom to go on to work towards the improvement of educational opportunities for all students. One of these is Rupa Ramadurai, a former high school teacher from Miami, Florida.

Rupa earned her Bachelor’s degree in Education and Political Science from the University of Michigan in 2009. She earned her Master’s degree in Education and Social Change from the University of Miami in 2011. She earned her Juris Doctorate in Child and Family Law from the Loyola University of Chicago School of Law in 2014.

Once she earned her Master’s degree, Rupa taught high school intensive reading in an inner city public school in Miami Dade County, Florida. She entered the teaching profession through Teach for America (TFA). “I didn’t know how exactly to combine my academic passion for reading and writing with my love for working with kids,” recalled Rupa. “I spoke to a TFA on-campus recruiter my senior year who shared how she had the ability to change a child’s trajectory through education, and it sold me on that being my calling,” she continued.

In addition to her work as a reading teacher, Rupa supported first-year teachers by serving as a Management Learning Team Leader and as a Backwards Planning Clinic Leader.

Once she earned her Juris Doctorate, Rupa spent five years practicing education law, and then she accepted a position at Chicago-based Community Leadership Corps, a non-profit organization that supports educators in pursuing varied pathways such as elected leadership, careers in policy and advocacy, and organizing. In this way, the former teacher endeavors to achieve educational equity for all.

Rupa says her work as a teacher has been invaluable to her success as a lawyer. “The classroom taught me how to think on my feet, and how to make sound judgment in the heat of a moment—from disciplining a student to changing the lesson plan to accommodate someone,” she declares. “This ability to be quick, flexible, and adaptable was an invaluable skill that serves me to be effective as an attorney.”