Aspiring lawyers have myriad motivations for wanting to join the profession. For Sarah Zarba, who is enrolled in City University of New York School of Law's Pipeline to Justice program, she is driven by her own experience with the criminal justice system.

Zarba has come a long way from her troubled youth. She had a rebellious streak and struggled with substance abuse. To support her increasingly expensive drug habit, Zarba and her boyfriend at the time started holding up gas stations.