FAMILY STORY:
“Both of my parents
emigrated from Mexico. My father
was a factory worker for 18 years,
but in the early 1990s, he got laid off.
He took a big risk and a leap of faith
and started a company that now has
80 employees and builds roads and
bridges throughout Michigan. My
father taught me you have to take
risks and work hard.” Gallegos has
three siblings: an older sister is an
adjunct professor at a community
college, a brother hopes to take over
the family business someday, and a
younger sister has her own law firm.
LEANING TOWARD THE LAW:
Gallegos worked at his dad’s company
for a while, starting on a construction
crew during summers in high
school. When he graduated from the
University of Michigan, his goal was
to go to dental school. “But I hadn’t
realized how difficult it was to get in,”
he says. After five years as a project
manager at his father’s company,
he decided he needed a business
background and enrolled in Michigan
State University’s MBA program. “That
was life-changing,” he says. “I realized
I wasn’t happy with my career and
needed to make a move. A business
law professor who was a Loyola law
alum thought law would be a good
fit for me.”
TAKING THE PLUNGE:
To come to
law school, Gallegos sold his car and
house and quit his job, taking a huge
risk. “I’ve learned you can’t chase
money,” he says. “If you’re doing what
you love, you’ll put forth a lot more
effort, you’ll be good at it, and the
money will come. That was probably
the best decision of my life.”
LANDING AT LOYOLA:
“I love this
city. When I toured Loyola, it just
felt right. The people were super
friendly, and the atmosphere wasn’t
as cutthroat and competitive as it felt
at other places,” says Gallegos, who
knew from the start he wanted to
participate in study abroad programs.
“After my first year, when others were
really worried about jobs, I had a
group of friends who talked me into
going to Beijing. Then we went on to
Rome and Strasbourg, France, and
it was the greatest experience of my
life. So many people like being in their
comfort zone, but you have to get
out of it.”
FIVE-YEAR PLAN:
“It’s funny—my
father has asked me this quite a bit,”
Gallegos says. Although his sister
runs her own firm, he doesn’t think
that’s his own path: “You have to
wear many hats, and I really enjoy the
law. I’ll join Clark Hill’s Detroit office
after graduation, and my plan is to
eventually become a partner at a firm.
I’d also love to become a professor
and teach a business law class in an
MBA program or at a law school.”
LIFELONG LEARNER:
“I’m a nerd
at heart. My friends joke all the
time, ‘What’s next? Are you going
to get an MD?’ I tell them school
has offered me great opportunities
to see the world and meet awesome
people. I hope to continue learning
no matter what it is.” In addition
to studying guitar, Gallegos is
improving his Italian and Portuguese
and hopes to learn Mandarin. What
else is on the docket? “I hope it’ll be
more travel,” he says, “with Spain,
Machu Picchu in Peru, and Istanbul at
the top of my list.”
■
››
STUDENT PROFILE: HUGO GALLEGOS
Student of theworld
3L keeps opening doors to new educational experiences
W
ith immigrant parents and a sister who
operates her own immigration and family
law practice, Hugo Gallegos has a natural
interest in immigration law.
“The issue is close to my heart,” says the third-
year student planning to graduate in May 2014. “My
parents grew up poor and came to this country with
nothing. They have an awesome story. I can only wish
mine will compare.”
However, immigration isn’t Gallegos’s only passion.
“I like helping people strategize and organize their
businesses,” he says. When he graduates, he’ll add a JD
to his list of degrees, which already includes a BS and
an MBA. “You have to constantly grow and learn,” says
the editor in chief of the
Loyola Consumer Law Review,
“whether it’s through school or something else, like
picking up an instrument.”
Hugo Gallegos calls his travel with Loyola’s Study Law Abroad programs his greatest life experience . . . yet.
“My father taught me you have to
take risks and work hard.”
—3L Hugo Gallegos
16
LOYOLA LAW
SPRING 2014
17
