While we were unable to interview Justice Arana for this column, we were able to have a chat with her mother, Mrs. Agnes Arana, who was beaming with joy over her daughter?s most recent accomplishment. She told us that Michelle has always been focused, even as a child. She first decided to pursue law when she was at St. Catherine Academy, where she attained her high school education.

The biggest heartbreak of her life was what really sealed her conviction to pursue law, her mother said. Michelle Arana lost her dad at the age of 14, 22 years ago, and all the legal papers that had to be dealt with at that time peaked her interest in law.

It was, for the family, a most painful experience to lose Mr. Gregorio Arana to a heart attack. He is remembered as a loving father and a man unparalleled in the eyes of his family. This was a great loss for Michelle, but the strong support from her own mother, siblings and teachers who comforted her in her time of grief and counseled her through the tragedy, revitalized her spirit and made her a stronger person.

Today, everything she does is for daddy, her mother asserts. Even her appointment this Monday as judge of the Supreme Court, she accepted in honor of her father, mother and all those who have been there for her throughout her life.

Mrs. Arana said that Michelle was always somebody who loved to reason, trying to figure out why this and why that; trying to deduce things. She also loved language, her mother said.

The first time she left Belize was to pursue an English degree in Indiana, USA, on a USAID scholarship. Fresh out of St. John?s College Sixth Form, she attended Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. She earned departmental honors in English.

In 1989, when she completed that Bachelor?s degree, she went on to pursue law at the University of the West Indies in Barbados and Jamaica on an open scholarship, after having earned one of the highest scores in the tertiary level external exams. She completed her bachelors in law and went on for a further two years to attain her certificate of legal education from Norman Manley Law School, Jamaica.

She has also recently completed a Master?s Degree in law (LLM) in Corporate Finance with merit at Sheffield University and she has conducted seminars on offshore finance in Belize.

Her first job was serving as a part-time legal clerk at the Belize Supreme Court in the summer break of 1990.

Justice Arana has also worked extensively with legal cases involving families and children.

In 1993, she served as a temporary magistrate of the Belize Family Court. There, she heard cases involving domestic violence, legal separation, juvenile delinquency, child custody and maintenance. She continues to be an advocate for families.

Coming from a loving home with a nurturing mother and father, she always recognized the importance of strong family units. Today, she is a divorcee and a single parent, raising a 13-year son, now in standard 6, with the support of her family.

Her mother says that Justice Arana has always recognized the huge responsibility that women have in society. The mothers, grandmothers and the women take on very big responsibilities with their families. Of course, her own experience, having lost her father at a very young and critical age, and seeing her own mother struggle to raise the four of her children taught her, by example, about the strength of a woman.

Today, Michelle is that same kind of person, her mother says, and she shares, almost 100%, the same family values that her mother instilled in her as a child.

But Mrs. Arana never dreamed that her daughter would be as successful as she is today. She describes her crowning achievements as ?icing on the cake,? and while proud, the family is at the same time humbled by the great honor that has been bestowed upon her.

The Chief Justice himself, Sir Abdulai Conteh, showered Justice Arana with accolades in his address on Monday:

?During her tenure as Registrar, I found Justice Arana to be dependable with a clear commitment to the law and its administration.

?I have every confidence that she will bring to the Bench commitment to the law; integrity and an impartial objectivity, with a safe pair of hands that will further the due and proper administration of justice in Belize.?

We first reported on the elevation of Justice Arana to status of permanent judge in December, when the Senate unanimously approved her appointment.

She was first admitted to the Bar in August of 1996.

(NOTE: Justice Arana?s parents are both originally from Punta Gorda Town, Toledo.)