Fall — 2005

Melita Paleka

International Law

“Both UCLA and Berkeley invited me to apply for scholarships. Of course, that doesn’t guarantee I’ll get in, but it was a lovely compliment.”

When she drops the fact that she was born in Croatia, it’s nothing less than mind-blowing. Melita Paleka is amazingly well-spoken in accent-free English. “I speak Croatian and French as well. And because of these languages and the experiences in my life, I didn’t choose the field of International Studies, really. It seems that it chose me. I was going to become an actor,” she continues, “and live for that dream. But I wasn’t going to let some casting director decide my fate. So I decided to go back to school to get control of my life.”

But when Melita was told by UCLA that she needed to do some coursework at SMC, she was initially devastated. “I thought, ‘Oh no! There go two years of my life studying with mediocre professors.’ But I was completely stunned by the fabulous professors at SMC. A couple of them have actually changed my life—literally. They are Eileen Rabach and Alan Emerson,” says Melita. “Eileen teaches Political Economy, and she opened my eyes to the entire world. What I’d now like to do is get involved in the humanitarian aspects of globalization, possibly in law. Because of where I come from—the compassion that I have for others and the whole ‘immigrant experience’—I plan to work in education somehow, in developing countries.”

Melita states that “ten years from now I’ll have my PhD and maybe on my way to becoming some sort of political leader. There’s really no need for countries to be impoverished. Or I might get involved in war crimes tribunals, bringing people to justice. Ultimately,” she says. “I want to be someone whose life impacts all people for the greater good.”

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