Alumni Spotlight: Margie Almanza
2004 USF graduate doing big things on Capital Hill
Jessica Horn
Issue date: 3/3/10 Section: News
Margie Almanza is 2004 Political Science graduate from USF. During her time at St. Francis she enjoyed taking classes with Julie Victa and participating in Duns Scotus and the College Republicans. She also remembers the exciting time she had on her trip to London in 2004 and the Nazareth Farm Mission Trip in 2003.
With all Almanza's political studies and involvements, it's no surprise that she is now working as a legislative assistant for Congressman, Aaron Schock, in Washington D.C. "[The move from Joliet was] very exciting yet a little worrisome, it had helped that I had interned in Washington DC in 2005," said Margie. She has recently taken a trip to Ankara and Istanbul, Turkey on an 18-person Congressional staff delegation trip, which she places as one of her favorite memories to date.
Almanza finished her masters in 2007 at George Washington University in Washington D.C. and hopes to be working on Capital Hill for a very long time. " It's a great place to live and work!" said Almanza.
Margie gave some advice to undergrads and students about to graduate as well. She quoted Mark Twain saying, "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." "Some chances only come around once in life, so take a chance and go for it," said Margie.
For soon to be graduates Almanza gave very smart Facebook advice, as she is a recent grad. "Check your Facebook profile and remove any pictures or tags that paint you in a bad light. The first thing we check on all of our intern and staff applications are their Facebook pages," said Margie.
With all Almanza's political studies and involvements, it's no surprise that she is now working as a legislative assistant for Congressman, Aaron Schock, in Washington D.C. "[The move from Joliet was] very exciting yet a little worrisome, it had helped that I had interned in Washington DC in 2005," said Margie. She has recently taken a trip to Ankara and Istanbul, Turkey on an 18-person Congressional staff delegation trip, which she places as one of her favorite memories to date.
Almanza finished her masters in 2007 at George Washington University in Washington D.C. and hopes to be working on Capital Hill for a very long time. " It's a great place to live and work!" said Almanza.
Margie gave some advice to undergrads and students about to graduate as well. She quoted Mark Twain saying, "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." "Some chances only come around once in life, so take a chance and go for it," said Margie.
For soon to be graduates Almanza gave very smart Facebook advice, as she is a recent grad. "Check your Facebook profile and remove any pictures or tags that paint you in a bad light. The first thing we check on all of our intern and staff applications are their Facebook pages," said Margie.