By Alejandro Ambriz
The second annual political science fair at East Los Angeles College provided a guide for students interested in political science as a possible career path Thursday.
It consisted of panelists and ELAC staff from the political science discipline who provided information on career pathways, degrees, major plans and personal experiences.
The panel consisted of Daisy Mateo, attorney and Diversity Inclusion Specialist and Theodros Gashaw, membership director of the Faculty Association of California Community Colleges. Mateo talked about professionalism in the legal world as a latina lawyer.
“It’s important to remember who you are,” said Mateo.
Gashaw talked about his time in a fellowship program and how he found what he wanted to do.
“I completely fell into union organizing. It wasn’t completely my plan. It just happened and then I realized, ‘all right, I actually like this work,’” said Gashaw. After the panel ended, students got the chance to ask the panelists questions.
One student asked how they knew what they wanted to do and what route to take once they graduated.
Mateo said she had an idea of what she wanted despite having lawyers in her family.
“I had an internship at Univision at their legal department through some non-profit (organization),” said Mateo.
She said it was her first exposure to Latino attorneys in the legal world. Gashaw said that he too did not know what he was going to do.
“I was involved in a lot of student activities and I should’ve been paying attention to what I was going to do once I graduated,” said Gashaw.
Professor Kelly Velasquez of the Political Science Department introduced the last segment of the career fair. Panelists, along with ELAC staff, went around the groups of students and were able to ask questions and receive advice on a more personal level.
Students received pamphlets highlighting potential political science careers, the general pathway for an Associate in Arts in political science for transfer degree and contact information for the Career and Job Services Center.
“It’s a great event to get everyone together to really understand the courses that they’re going to need to take, to see some of the possible careers out there, and to actually hear from professionals that the students can relate to,” Nancy Escobar, Career and Job Services Center worker, said.
The political science discipline is located in F7-307.
For more information regarding career pathways, students can visit Career & Job Services in E1-176 at the main campus and room 124 at the South Gate campus.