Much of the success of the ESJCLC is due to the symbiotic relationship that it has with the Law School and undergraduate students. For law students, the Law Center is a training ground in which they apply their theoretical knowledge of the law to real-life cases. For the undergraduates, the Center represents a resource where they can learn and hone valuable skills in a community-based environment. While the law students enjoy a more structured learning environment imposed by their class work, the undergraduates have a less formal but equally important participation in the Center’s day-to-day operations. Undergraduates act as interpreters, as assistants to the attorneys and paralegals, and as administrative assistants.
Some students, like senior Maria Arons, obtain class credit for their work at the Law Center through the Pedro Arrupe Center for Community-Based Learning (formerly known as the East Side Project). The Arrupe Center places SCU students with community organizations in a mutually beneficial arrangement. Students participate in their placements weekly throughout each quarter, or through a variety of projects especially adapted to course requirements. For instance, Maria receives credit for her Spanish 147 class (Cinema and the Novel in Contemporary Latin America) in exchange for her work at the Law Center. Assistant Professor Juan Velasco, Maria’s teacher, maintains that their experience at the ESJCLC "gives the students a real familiarity and understanding of the legal problems faced by Latinos in this country. Students realize that what we study in our novels and movies is more than a theory. Students may eventually forget the theory, but their personal experience stays with them." Professor Velasco emphasizes that "above all, I make it very clear that their participation at the Law Center is not an act of charity. They go there to learn about their community, to grow and to help others grow." Dianne Blakely, an Administrative Director at the ESJCLC’s, praises the Arrupe students. "I am very satisfied with the assistance that they provide, and in fact I wish that we could get more students involved each quarter," says Ms.
Blakely.
Other students, like senior Yessica Islas, satisfy their interests in a particular area while obtaining general credit towards their degree. Yessica, an Anthropology major, came to the Center with an interest in Immigration Law. At the end of two quarters (one of which was completed as an internship), she decided that a law degree looms large in her future. Now she knows that she wants to become a public interest attorney. "It’s not about money; it’s about helping people," says Yessica with a humble smile. When asked if there was a particular experience that influenced her decision, her thoughtful frown reveals her resolution as she describes a client who had been a victim of domestic violence (DV). "I was interpreting [for the law student]," she says, "when she [the client] suddenly showed us the shot wound made by her husband. I was in shock, but I had to continue interpreting." After an emotional pause, Yessica admits, "I had never spoken to a victim of DV. I was very sad but also very happy because I knew that I had somehow helped this woman."
Junior Cindy Morales, who is pursuing a Political Science degree at SCU, was also unsure about law school. A resident of Watsonville, Cindy was contemplating becoming a kindergarten teacher before she ran into the ESJCLC. "I love kids," she says, "and thanks to my experience at the Center, now I want to become a Family Law attorney. Children are not always able to defend themselves, so I want to help them." As a Center for Multicultural Learning Scholar placed by the Arrupe Center at the ESJCLC for a year-long internship, Cindy exemplifies the inter-departmental and innovative ways in which Santa Clara University incorporates community-based learning into its undergraduate curriculum. According to Shirley Okumura, the placement coordinator at the Arrupe Center, her center has about 40 community partners which, depending on the students’ course-work requirements, can become ideal places of learning. The East San Jose Community Law Center is certainly lucky to be one of them.
Whether they are volunteers or work-for-credit students, one thing is certain: undergraduate students will continue to play a key role at the ESJCLC, one that is greatly appreciated.
Written by Sergio Lopez
ESJCLC Staff
