Barajas is currently a freshman at the University of Pennsylvania studying criminology. She began interning for PESA after becoming enamored with the Teen Court program as a student juror in high school, eventually becoming the campus Teen Court Club president by her senior year. At PESA, she performed numerous roles, including tutoring and mentoring students; creating and performing educational presentations at area schools; and writing police report summaries of alleged crimes involving diverted youth, a critical step that helps inform judges and juries about a Teen Court case. Thanks to Zoom and other electronic media, she has been able to continue many of those same duties, even while pursuing her college studies across the country.
“I’ve been able to incorporate and implement my college experiences with my students,” says Barajas, who recently created a presentation on labeling. The course explained how individuals can be influenced by and be more likely to act like the labels they are given. Barajas related this theory to restorative justice and the importance of giving youth second chances so that they are not labeled as criminals for the rest of their lives. “I wanted to include more components of law,” she says, “and explain Teen Court concepts in a broader perspective. I hope that in the future, I can work my way up the PESA ladder and possibly help start more Teen Court programs across the nation.”