Jackson Khandelwal '26
Hi, Jackson! Thanks for joining me for this week’s Hot Bench. To get started, where are you from, where did you go for undergrad, and what were you up to before coming to law school?
Hey Nicky. I’m from Columbus, Ohio, and I went to Ohio State University. I graduated last year, but before I came to school here, I was spending my time in and out of the Amazon Rainforest.
Ok yes, I remember this! It was actually the first thing I think I learned about you when I met you in the Community Fellows program. It’s a very unique experience, so how did you end up there?
The first time I got to go to the Amazon, I got invited to go along with my friend's family as part of an ecotourism trip, and it was there that I made friends with some members of a Sapara community who invited me back the next year to stay with them over the summer. And after that I just kept going back.
That’s very cool. What made you want to keep going back?
I fell in love with the way of life and the knowledge the community had about us as humans but also the natural world around us. I was inspired by their struggle to protect their territory and preserve their culture, and I wanted to keep going back to understand more and to keep spending time with the people who had become my really close friends.
Honestly, I could just spend this whole interview geeking about the rainforest and asking more questions about everything, but I’m going to resist the urge and limit myself. Do you think that you’ll end up in a field of law based on your time in the Amazon? Ecuador, I think, right?
Yeah, I really hope so. I would love to work with Native and Indigenous communities who are fighting for their collective rights and protecting their territories and the biodiversity within them. So I’m really interested in working at the intersection of human rights and environmental law.
That’s very cool. I know we’re both trying to finish this major memo so I’ll move on to the lightning round so we can both get back to our suffering.
Sounds good!
What would you be doing right now if you hadn’t come to law school?
I’d probably be living in the jungle with my friends.
Honestly valid. What brought you to UVA?
I love the mountains and I thought UVA looked like it built a really nice environment to go to school in.
Favorite song right now?
I’ve been listening to the song “Masters of War” by Bob Dylan lately, but I also love a song called “Lejos de la Ciudad” by Muerdo.
A song called “Masters of War” seems apropos for this time in the semester. Last Q! If you’re having a very bad day, what’s the comfort food move?
I would go for a Thai curry dish called khao soi.
Omg khao soi rocks, you gotta try the one at Monsoon Siam if you haven’t already.
Yesss that’s like the only one I can find in Charlottesville. It’s actually pretty good.
Thai Cuisine & Noodle House also usually has it, and it’s my fave Thai place in town, just sayin’. But anyway BACK TO THE MEMO I GO.
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Interviewed by Nicky Demitry '26