Alumni in Action

Nicolette Kafetas '22

Education Coordinator and Curator, World Wildlife-Heritage Museum

“After graduating from SMC in 2022 with my degree in history, I went to San Francisco State University and I got my masters in history. I have worked for the National Park Service at the Rosie the Riveter museum, the Walnut Creek Historical Society, and now a new museum in Concord, the World Wildlife-Heritage Museum as the education coordinator and curator. ”

William Lane '16

Analyst, State of California

“I started with the California Department of Industrial Relations in 2017 as an intern.  Since then, I have risen to the rank of ‘Analyst’ and my main task is procurement, obtaining goods and services for other staff… A few years ago, I started a tiny history Youtube channel dedicated to ‘niche’ historical topics. The channel is called Second Hand History…...  Most recent video was The War of the Pacific between Chile, Peru, and Bolivia, while the most successful video was on the Calusa people of Florida and their implications for the concept of civilization. You are all invited to check out the channel.”

Shella Rittenberry '17

Social Studies Teacher and Department Chair, Fort Stockton High Scho

“I am the Social Studies Department Chair at Fort Stockton High School in West Texas...  I started graduate school at Texas A&M, but left and went instead into teaching with an alternative certification program. I'm in my final semester of a Master’s in Educational Leadership at Schreiner University in Kerrville, TX. I teach 11th grade US History, but I have a class of sophomores as well. Today my US History classes are completing teambuilding and review activities while trying to root out the secret communists trying to undermine them. It's joyful, educational chaos! I would recommend teaching high school history to undergraduates who love telling stories and sharing their passion. I have had dozens of teenagers tell me at the end of my course that they never liked history before, but it has become their favorite class. I taught an economics lesson on wages and one student remembered it weeks later and told me that lesson was the first time he ever felt smart. He's in college now.”

Alex Avina '02

Associate Professor, Arizona State University

“After graduating from St. Mary's, I accepted a five-year fellowship at the University of Southern California to enroll in their History doctoral program--a feat for which both Professor Myrna Santiago and the Institute for the Recruitment of Teachers in Andover, Massachusetts deserve most of the credit. Without them, or the solid foundation provided by St. Mary's history department in historical scholarship and research, I would not be in this profession.

I spent a year and a half (2006-2007), funded by the Fulbright Program and USC, doing research in Mexico City at the National Archives and recording oral histories in various parts of rural Mexico. My dissertation focused on two peasant guerrilla movements that emerged in the Mexican state of Guerrero in the late 1960s. Out of that research came my first book, Specters of Revolution: Peasant Guerrillas in the Cold War Mexican Countryside, published by Oxford University Press in 2014. In 2015 the book won the Maria Elena Martinez Book Prize in Mexican History. My next book project explores the links between counter-insurgency, state terror, and the development of a transnational narcotics economy in the southwestern Mexican highlands in the 1960s. After several years at Florida State University, I made the transition to Arizona State University in Tempe, where I teach Latin American history.”

Ashley Jeneson '15

Deputy District Attorney, San Joaquin County

“After I graduated in 2015, I obtained my Juris Doctorate degree at Santa Clara University and passed the California Bar Exam. I have since been employed as a Deputy District Attorney for San Joaquin County where I handle a variety of cases including domestic violence and child abuse.

I owe a large part of my success to the Saint Mary's History Department and the professors that molded me into the professional and person that I am today. Though the topics and stories I learned along the way were fascinating, the skills I obtained studying the subject developed my critical thinking ability and made me a successful researcher, writer, and litigator in the courtroom!”

Karen Pedraza, ‘15

Immigrants’ Rights Attorney, Pedraza Law-Owner and Partner

Karen knew she wanted to be an immigration lawyer since she first came to Saint Mary’s.  That’s why she chose History as a major, to prepare herself to do meticulous research, read critically, and write convincingly.  In between she studied abroad in Colombia, possibly the first and only SMC student to spend a semester abroad in that country. Upon graduation, Karen went to Davis for law school and immediately became involved in helping people without regular documentation to work in this country.  Today, she has her own law firm, focused on immigration law and is busier than ever protecting immigrants' rights.  Her advice for our current history majors:  “Don’t lose sight of the world that you want to create.” 

Frank Martinez '12

School Counselor at Harvest Magnet Middle School

“History has opened the doors to endless opportunities. After I graduated in 2012, I took a year off and volunteered with UNITE HERE Local 2850 to fight the injustices  Sodexo employees were suffering on the campus all Gaels call home, Saint Mary's College. With my History degree I was able to evaluate the worker's situation with evidence; identify and interpret what the workers wanted and needed to do; and connect historical injustice with current injustices for food industry employees. Furthermore, I was able to think critically and communicate effectively with union organizers, Sodexo  employees, and Sodexo management. Sodexo employees signed their first union contract in June 2013. This was just the beginning of fighting against social inequalities.

In the Fall of 2013, I began graduate school at the Kalmanovitz School of Education at Saint Mary's College in Counseling Psychology with a focus on School Counseling. In addition, I was awarded a Lasallian Fellowship which has covered my graduate school expenses. I am currently working on my Master's project that focuses on middle school transition and the impact it has on first-generation Latino male students emotionally, physically, and mentally. I am on track to graduate in May 2016 with my Master's in Counseling Psychology and PPS Credential in School Counseling. Currently, I am working for Napa Valley Unified School District as the School Counselor at Harvest Magnet Middle School.”

Vanessa Rebecchi '06

Psychiatric RN

“I was a substitute teacher in Hollister, California, while I waited to start the Multi-Subject Program and Masters in Education at SMC, but I strongly recommend anyone interested in politics or public service to major in History. I've worked as a Field Representative in the California State Assembly. My job included reading public policy documents with a critical eye. From my readings, I wrote arguments and opinions in letters and memos. I also worked as Regional Field Director for the President Obama campaign in Colorado in 2012.

In the 2014 election, I worked on a statewide California voter registration program that registered thousands of college students and new citizens. A large part of my success is due to the skills I learned from my history classes. Writing all those history papers really helped! Plus the professors in the History Department provided me with advice and mentorship to follow my career goals.”