Patricia Ornelas

Student

“History buff that I am, going to D.C. is an incredibly exciting prospect. That’s our whole country right there.”

“It looks as though I’ll be with Mel Levine’s office,” says Patricia Ornelas of her upcoming internship. “They asked for a writing sample so hopefully I’ll be doing some writing about the things I know: history, politics and speeches.” As part of the Dale Ride internship contingent from SMC that will be serving in the nation’s Capitol, Patricia hopes to jump-start her practical knowledge of things political. “Mr. Levine’s running for the Senate,” she says, “so I ought to get a real double-dose of political action.”

As president of Alpha Gamma Sigma, the honors society, Patricia says, “I’ve met a lot of incredible people. I’ve been in the spotlight here,” she continues, “and I’ve realized a lot from the advantages SMC gives its students.”

One of the these advantages was a field biology class she took “instead of just hanging around over vacation,” she reports. “I actually got to touch a threatened species—a desert tortoise—which is illegal outside of a study class,” she says.

The practice of environmental law is Patricia’s carved-in-stone goal. “Law is the way for me to help protect this country’s valuable resources. It may sound like a cliché,” she continues, “but I want to have kids some day and I want them to have a good, healthy world to grow up in. I doubt that I’ll ever make much money doing this kind of law,” she says. “But it’s the kind of work that can be crucial to survival of people on our planet.”

As she moves on to bigger campuses and work on global environment issues, Patricia admits having a soft spot for SMC. “The thing that stands out here is the attention you get, all the one-on-one you get from your teachers. And I know I’m going to miss this place a lot when I’m gone.”

Back