Heather Gin was five when she announced to her mother that she would be going to law school one day. While the prospect of having an attorney in the family made her mother proud, the reality of affording a legal education was daunting. Upon hearing the news of her daughter’s intention to pursue a law degree, Nancy Gin wanted to support her daughter in every way possible. She impressed upon Heather the seriousness of her aspirations at a very young age:
“Heather, you have two good hands. Use them to help others,” she said.
Heather ran with her mother’s words. And when she earns her JD on May 7, Nancy and her husband Ming, who have worked tirelessly to support their family, will be there in person to celebrate.
“My parents grew up very poor,” Heather said. “My dad immigrated from Hong Kong when he was 14 and my mom grew up the youngest of five in downriver Detroit. She was raised by her older sister and was one of the first 13 women across the nation promoted to manager at a K-Mart store in the 1970s.”
Despite entering an American school for the first time as a freshman, Ming Gin went on to become valedictorian of Detroit’s Northern High School. Only one of two Asian students in the entire high school, Ming Gin spent his spare time working at the Golden Dragon, the family’s restaurant in the city’s Chinatown. He went on to work at General Motors in sales and marketing for 46 years and retired last spring.
Ming and Nancy started a family later in life—Heather and Nancy are separated by more than 40 years—and assisting her parents as they grow older hasn’t been a detriment for Heather.
It’s been an inspiration.
“My mother is paralyzed on her left side,” Heather said, “and my family is getting older. Through it all I’ve seen how the aging process is so inequitable and rife with fraud and abuse. Simply navigating choices such as placing a loved one into a nursing home or filling out health care directives can be an immense challenge. That’s what drew me to wills, trusts, and estate planning. Ultimately, I want to do good and help people.”
But it was the help of the Indiana Law faculty and staff that drew Heather Gin to Bloomington in the first place.
“When I walked through the doors, I felt comfortable here,” she said. “I didn’t get that feeling with other schools I visited—I felt like a number.”
And the Office of Admissions expressed a deep and authentic interest in her family and how Heather might adjust to law school. “They wanted to meet my parents and get to know them,” she said.
In fact, when the family was visiting prospective law schools, Nancy Gin couldn’t get in to any of their facilities due to her disability—they simply weren’t accessible. But the Maurer School of Law welcomed the Gins in and ensured they were able to see the place where Heather would spend the next three years.
She discovered quickly that law school is hard. But not impossible. A political science major at the University of Michigan, Gin was prepared for the rigorous academic challenges law school poses for any new student. But everyone has to adjust to their new surroundings.
“Every day of my 1L year I kept thinking to myself ‘I can’t do this,’” she said. But her self-doubt was overcome by ambition and a strong work ethic. Even the interruption of COVID-19, which forced Gin and her classmates to complete their 2L year mostly online, didn’t stop her. In fact, the experience changed her view of the world, and as she entered her 3L year, she’d gained a new level of confidence.
“I knew I’d have the backing of a world-class legal education,” she said.
With a “normal,” in-person final year, Heather Gin couldn’t have been happier. She is thankful for this community and the people within it.
“I’ve made so many incredible connections here,” she said. “I was walking home after class today and waved to five people I knew on the street. That’s what makes Maurer so special. The people here aren’t out to get you. They want to help and get to know you. The legal profession as a whole perpetuates this idea that you have to make your path at any cost. Here I’ve learned that’s simply not true. I’ve felt supported since my first day.”
Gin and her classmates have forged strong connections, having completed law school during a global pandemic.
“We help each other move. We get coffee and drinks together. We make Trader Joe’s runs up to Indianapolis,” she said. “This is a place where you can feel comfortable approaching your classmates to ask for clarification on class material or get a large group together to attend a Jukebox Luke concert at the Bluebird. That energy is special.”
Those classmates recognized Gin’s leadership abilities right away, electing her as their 1L representative to the Student Bar Association, which she became president of for her 3L year.
“I was the president of the Panhellenic Association, the biggest student organization at Michigan,” she said, “and I discovered I really like leadership. I want to make a mark on my communities and leave them better than I found them. I started as a 1L rep here with the SBA, and found it to be a great way to voice the opinions of the students to the administration and come up with a middle ground that works.”
Now, as she prepares for the next chapter in her life, Gin has already started providing advice to the next generation of students who will follow her.
“A 1L asked me for advice earlier this year, and I told him, ‘Put your blinders on. The people around you are going to say they were in the library until 4 a.m., and while that may work for some, you have to figure out what works for you. Be confident in your own abilities and the trajectory you’re on and pave the way forward for others like you.’”
Gin hopes to return to Michigan sometime in the future, possibly pursuing a run for elected office.
But her dream job?
“I want to be a Regent of the University of Michigan,” she said.
“I’m going to start small, then go big.”