Mila Yarbrough (’18), a student of the University of Tennessee College of Law, was recently profiled by WBIR-TV for her inspiring work with the Emerald Youth Foundation, a local interfaith youth development ministry.
A longtime volunteer with the foundation’s after school program Just Lead, Yarbrough says that despite the new rigors of law school she has experienced as a 1L, she never considered giving up volunteering.
“Actually my mom… said, ‘You’re so busy. Why don’t you give up that time that you volunteer at Emerald Youth?’ And I refused to do that because it’s just an hour. And I figure I have at least one hour a week that I can sacrifice and come here,” Yarbrough said to WBIR’s Mary Scott.
Yarbrough has seen the results of her work firsthand with one of her students, Jeremih Lee, whom she has worked with for over two years. When Yarbrough first began working with Lee as a first-grader he had no reading abilities, but today he reads at and above grade level.
“When he read his first book, I could have cried. It touched my heart,” recalled Yarbrough. “I know [the students] are depending on me. And often times in their lives they don’t always have people they can depend on. Knowing that someone is here consistently every week makes me feel good and know I’m someone they can count on and trust.”
Read more about Yarbrough’s work with Lee and other students at WBIR’s website.