AJA WILLIAMS
STETSON LAW CLASS OF 2020
B Y TAY LOR A L LYN
Aja Williams is a part-time student and full-time
advocate who balances her studies with raising a big
family. Williams, 33, is in her fourth year of study at
Stetson University College of Law and plans to graduate
in May of 2020. She currently works full time as a property
manager in St. Petersburg, overseeing HUD-based programs
and low-income tax credit housing. She has been working in the
field since 2007 and handles everything from tenant issues to
accounting and payroll.
Williams' legal interest was initially sparked when she was in third
grade. The O.J. Simpson trial was in full force at the time.
“I remember my teacher watching it in class, and I wanted to
be Johnnie Cochran,” she said. After the trial was over, everyone
wanted Cochran to represent them in their legal battle. Williams
was enthralled with the level of respect he commanded in the
courtroom — and she wanted to do the same.
After law school, Williams hopes to be an advocate for families
experiencing housing issues. She wants to continue handling
HUD and fair housing issues, as well as ADA violations. Her
public interest goals were bolstered by her experiences as a property
manager and her time working with low-income families. She sees
the unfairness when families are forced to advocate for themselves
and simply don’t know how to. There are so many rights people
have that they either don’t know they have, or they just don’t know
how to assert them, Williams said. Many people get mistreated
because they don’t know their rights, especially when it comes to
landlord-tenant issues. Williams said she wants to help these kinds
of people secure the justice that they deserve.
Williams balances her full-time job and part-time schooling with
raising six children, ages 7-17.
“I call it my own little circus – there’s always something going on
in one of the arenas,” she joked. She is insistent that it’s a juggle
rather than a struggle because it’s what she wants to do. Becoming
a lawyer has been her dream since she was a child, and she is
driven to see that dream become a reality. Williams said she views
her time as a part-time law student as a wholly positive experience.
However, she sometimes found herself putting off taking certain
classes or having to adjust her schedule to find time to fit in
everything. Despite all of her external responsibilities raising a big
family and handling a full-time job, Williams finds ways to be
involved on campus. She is the vice president of Phi Delta Phi and
was involved in the Student Summer Advisory Council in 2017
and 2018.
Because part-time law students are more likely to be older and
have more responsibilities, Williams emphasizes the importance
of individuality. She doesn't compare herself to full-time students
who are on a completely different timeline.
Find your balance and do what you have to do. If you give it your
all, you can be just as successful – if not more so.
PARTTIME STUDENT SUCCESS
12
Find your balance, and do what you have to do.
If you give it your all, you can be just as successful
– if not more so.”
— Aja Williams, Part-Time Law Student
Photo credit: Emily Preu