Stories

Eduardo Cuevas (2016) has spent the year after his graduation at two different positions that he hopes will help him figure out more precisely the direction of his career for the next few years. In one of spent the first six months after graduation working as a legal assistant at a law firm. He specialized in immigration issues, often the issues that are part of the complex immigration conundrum prevalent in Silicon Valley. Eduardo worked on the processes involved in people obtaining H-1B visas and green cards. He found that his background in research and writing as a history major greatly assisted him in the projects the law firm asked him to undertake. Also, in his senior seminar on race and gender Professor Barbara Molony had seminar participants do some reading on H-4 visas, which are given to spouses of H-1B recipients. Eduardo took the LSAT examination in December and law school is one possibility for him.

In January Eduardo started working as an intern in the office of the Speaker of the California Assembly, Anthony Rendon. His responsibilities include finding and providing resources for members of the assembly as they deal with issues relating to healthcare and immigration, especially the Dreamers who are so prominent in contemporary California immigration issues. Eduardo has found that most of his work involves helping assembly members communicate aspects of these complex issues clearly and concisely to their constituents. He has found that his background as a history major has come in very handy. Often political issues tend to be analyzed with an extreme present-day focus and Eduardo's ability to research historical antecedents and trends has enabled him to offer assembly members important and essential context as they engage in their own communications efforts. Eduardo is enjoying this experience and also mulling over the possibility of seeking an MA in public policy.

On whichever path he embarks, Eduardo is grateful for the research and writing experience and the historical sensibility his studies gave him at SCU. As either a lawyer or a public policy analyst, he is confident that his history major will play an important role in his career.