USD Magazine Fall 2014

the CIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency. Back then, Ibarra had dreams of joining those ranks by becoming an FBI agent. Her semester-long duties were with the National Training and Technical Assistance Partnership program, which helps train newly hired officers with law enforce- ment and other crime prevention agencies. “Assisting communities with crime prevention was a per- fect fit,” says Ibarra, who now works as a senior paralegal at an immigration law firm. Ibarra lived in an apartment in Rosslyn, Va., north of Arlington National Cemetery and directly across the Potomac River from Georgetown. Every day, she rode the Metro two stops from Rosslyn, under the Potomac to the Farragut West station in downtown D.C. Fromher office at 17th and K, she researched and helped produce brochures about public safety, attendedmanager-training confer- ences and participated in confer- ence calls, brainstorming sessions and roundtable discussions. When she wasn’t working, Ibarra immersed herself in every- thing D.C. had to offer, but of course, the news of the day was everywhere. “Thinking back during my time in D.C., the hot topic was the Kenneth Star report and Presi- dent Clinton’s impeachment,” she recalls. “There was a lot of buzz going on about that.” Ibarra saw every branch of the government in action. She wit- nessed the realities of politics — the negotiations, the quid pro quo. But what stuck with her the most was a grand sense of pride. “You can’t help but feel patri- otic when you’re there,” she says. “There’s so much history. I loved walking down the streets and seeing Capitol Hill or the White House. I loved knowing that everyone there was doing what they could to bring about a change for the people of this country. It was inspiring. It’s something I’ll never forget.”

COURTESY OF MICHELLE IBARRA

[ f i r s t - h a n d ] MS. DE LARA GOES TO WASHINGTON W W h a t U S D ’ s f i r s t D . C . i n t e r n l e a r n e d Krystn Shrieve hen Michelle (De Lara) Ibarra arrived in the nation’s capital, the

viding internships and academic seminars in virtually every field. “I was proud to represent my university, to work for a well-known agency and to make a difference in the world,” says Ibarra, thinking back on her experience in the fall of 1998. “I lovedmy time in D.C.” College of Arts and Sciences Dean Noelle Norton was then an assistant faculty member in the political science department and served as USD’s first faculty advi- sor for the Washington Center Program. She says it’s been an invaluable component to the student experience. “The USD educational model really emphasizes experiential learning — and for political sci- ence majors, that very often

includes work in Washington, D.C., where both domestic and interna- tional policy is made,” Norton says. Since Ibarra’s inaugural trip, USD has sent thousands of students to the Washington Center. Aside from the 14-week semester pro- gram, the university has expanded the offerings to include a nine- week program in the summer and a two-week program during the January intersession. Mike Williams, chair of the politi- cal science department, says stu- dents who went through the pro- gram have gone on to work at the White House, as Congressional aides, as lawyers in the executive branch, as political consultants or political campaign managers, and in the intelligence community for

sweltering heat registered in the 90s. The air was heavy —not just with a humidity that promised rain —but also with an incessant buzz about a certain former White House intern. If nothing else, things would be interesting in Washington, D.C. Ibarra ’99 was then a junior at USD, majoring in political science and minoring in international rela- tions and sociology. She was the first student from the university to participate in a student program at the Washington Center, a non- profit organization that serves hundreds of schools across the nation and around the world, pro-

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