Talia Scott claims she hasn’t been cloned. But how else to explain everything she’s doing? She is a dual-degree graduate student at New York University, where she attends both its business and law schools.
“I’m always in need of sleep, but I’m OK with sacrificing sleep,” said Ms. Scott, 26, who grew up in Harlem. “Living your dream life comes with a price. I’m the first person in my family to go to college. Now that I’m here, I’m dreaming bigger for myself.”
In 2020, as Black Lives Matter protests swept the country, she founded the Legally BLK Fund, a nonprofit that helps Black women with fees for law school and the LSAT, and provides access to consulting services and mentorships. “I wanted to help other Black women have an easier, better experience than I had,” she said. “Most people are like, ‘It’s crazy you’re doing all of this,’ but they’re not surprised knowing who I am. I’m surpassing society’s expectations of me.”
Ms. Scott lives in a two-bedroom apartment in campus housing in NoHo in Manhattan. “I have a roommate, but we lead different schedules and hardly see each other,” she said.
DEEP SLEEP I’m a heavy sleeper, plus I’m exhausted because I go to bed at 3 a.m. during the week. I set five alarms, three or five minutes apart, because I sleep through all of them. I keep my iPhone on my dresser, so I physically have to get up to turn off the circuit sound. By 8, I’m checking and responding to texts or emails.
ME TIME If I’m out of food, I’ll go to Trader Joe’s because they have great products at good prices and I’m trying to save money and eat healthier. It’s a seven-minute walk on Spring Street, which gives me a chance to de-stress. It feels like me time. I’ll listen to a podcast; right now it’s “Balanced Black Girl,” which is about navigating life as a young Black woman, taking care of yourself and building community. Or I’ll listen to a random Spotify mix based on my listening patterns. Usually it’s a mix of R&B, pop and Afrobeats.
My favorite items from Trader Joe’s are their sweet plantain chips, chicken shawarma bowls, vanilla ice cream and coffee. If it’s a workout day, I’ll go to Equinox on Bond Street. The dream in my head is to do the marathon, so I’ll do the treadmill and StairMaster.
VIRTUAL THERAPY Back home, I shower, dress and get ready for my 10 a.m. virtual therapy appointment. It took time to find a younger, Black woman who matched my personality and understood the grind culture. I found her on Therapy for Black Girls, which helps you match with Black therapists in your area. We go through life updates and things I’m targeting: mental and physical well-being; creating boundaries; and managing my stress, anxiety and expectations.
STREAMING CHURCH I fold and put away recently done laundry that I didn’t have time to do until now. I’ll drink water or a Synergy strawberry lemonade kombucha and watch Transformation Church that livestreams on YouTube, which I watch on my TV. They’re based in Tulsa, Okla. I love the pastor Mike Todd. The community and culture is amazing. There’s a different theme each week. Right now it’s a series called, “Damaged but Not Destroyed.” There’s a lot of pop culture references so it’s not old and dated. It makes me feel seen.
LATE BRUNCH I like a late brunch. By 1:30 p.m. I’ll make an egg-white omelet with turkey bacon, veggies and hash browns or avocado toast. I’ll drink a Trader Joe’s Cold Brew Coffee with coconut and almond oat creamer and a splash of Torani French vanilla syrup. Then I check emails and do Legally BLK Fund work.
When I was applying to law school and working as a paralegal, the application process was extremely difficult to navigate. I couldn’t afford a tutor and had trouble tackling the LSATs. I didn’t have a mentor that looked like me. I didn’t have the same access to financial resources and realized that could hinder my ability to apply to law school. On Juneteenth, I did a one-time institutive call out for the Legally BLK Fund on Instagram. Within a few days I got $17,000 of donations. Three years later, we have 60 women who are Legally BLK Fund fellows who I check in with regularly through texts, emails or chats. I read essays, give advice and read their law school applications.
SCHOOLWORK From 3 to 5 p.m. I do business school homework. Right now that includes prepping for informational coffee chat interviews with different bankers because I’m applying for an investment banking position for summer 2024. Then I go on a silent Zoom I created with a bunch of law school friends. There are 25 of us who hop on at different times. It gives me a sense of community and makes me feel not alone in the stress. Everyone is at home and on camera. We wave or say hello in the chat. Everyone is really focused.
MEAL By 6 p.m. I’m on the C subway headed to Harlem to have dinner with my mom and sister. They still live in the house where I grew up. There’s a different kind of communal feeling in Harlem than in NoHo. At school, I’m surrounded by retail stores, eight different coffee shops and healthy places to eat. Those things are lacking in Harlem. Living down there makes me want to work harder.
COMFORT FOOD If I have dinner at home, my mom makes baked ziti or pepper shrimp, or we go to Melba’s, which is a well-known soul food restaurant a few blocks away. We have the same comfort meal: fried catfish, mac and cheese and collard greens. I love being home, but I’m also creating my own life in NoHo, so this is about reconnecting with both of them. I helped raise my sister, Tori, who is 12, so it’s great to see this little person who is so excited to see me. We laugh as a family, talk about what trips we want to go on and what movies we want to see.
TV THEN SLEEP I come home and make a to-do list. Usually my law school friend Yasmeen, who lives in my building, comes over around 9 to watch “Love Island Games” on Peacock. It’s about contestants from past shows — Britain, Australia and the United States, who are getting a second chance at finding love and winning $100,000. It’s half strategy, half drama. Most people are not there to find love. This semester, Yasmeen is studying abroad in Paris, so I’ve been watching the show on my own. Sometimes I’ll send her screenshots of the episode, but it’s not the same as having her here. By midnight, I go on YouTube on my computer and play deep wave or sleep sounds for anxiety, which I fall asleep to.
