I visited Grinnell during the spring break of my junior year, and I fell in love with the rural location, local community, and the types of conversations I had with current students and staff. I ended up applying Early Decision because I knew that a liberal arts education in the form of an individually advised curriculum would best fit my academic needs and allow me to explore my interests.
Camila’s Journey
Name
Camila Hassler ’22
Hometown
Naperville, Illinois
Major
Political Science & Spanish
During my admitted students weekend, there was a bit of unexpected snow. I still enjoyed meeting my future classmates, sitting in on some classes, and envisioning my 4 years here.
Spanish
When I began my first year, I was set on majoring in political science, but I was also excited to explore what other academic departments had to offer. While I took a Spanish course in my fall semester, it wasn’t until I visited Peru that I became interested in majoring in Spanish. After immersing myself in the language and culture and interacting with Spanish speakers, I decided to do it. Even though I had missed a semester or two of Spanish coursework, the individually advised curriculum gave me the flexibility to take the time to make sure I wanted to major in Spanish and still graduate on time.
Farm House
One of my goals coming into Grinnell was to expand my horizons, try new things, and connect with the local community. Living in Farm House my second year was an amazing opportunity to not only live in a different type of college residence but to work on various student-led projects. We sold our homegrown produce at the farmer’s market, volunteered at community meals in town, hosted the annual Farmstock concert for college students, attended Stewfest (an event hosted by the Grinnell Area Arts Council), and so much more!
Student Educational Policy Committees
SEPCs are often responsible for department programming. During the pandemic, the SEPCs hosted virtual tables and sessions to connect with majors or anyone else interested!
I joined both the political science and Spanish Student Educational Policy Committees (SEPC) the beginning of my junior year. SEPCs advocate for majors within departments and create community through programming. This extracurricular really developed my leadership skills and my love for creating community, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, I became the social studies SEPC coordinator, where I am dedicated to laying a better foundation for the work and advocacy SEPCs do for years to come.
Congressional Internship
In the summer of 2021, I did a congressional internship for my home district’s U.S representative, which was a long-time professional goal of mine. In order to support my goal financially, I applied for and received summer internship funding through the Center for Careers, Life, and Service (CLS). After the internship, I began reconsidering law school and policy work, with the help of my academic and CLS advisors.
NSO Coordinator
After working as a New Student Orientation (NSO) ambassador remotely, I was excited to start off my final year as an NSO coordinator. I welcomed both first- and second-years to our community after a full year online. The energy during this orientation was amazing!
Post-Grad
In my last year at Grinnell, I did a practicum at a law firm in Des Moines, hosting events as a class ambassador, and planning graduation events on the Commencement Committee. During my spring break, I had the opportunity to do course-embedded travel in Spain with my Spanish seminar class.
After graduation, I worked as a legal assistant, preparing and filing a variety of non-immigrant visa petitions such as H-1B, L-1A/B,E-2/3, TN-1/2, R-1, and O-1 visas for foreign nationals and their dependents.
I am now an international employment and immigration specialist with the International Faculty and Staff Services (IFSS) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison!
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