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Vanessa Rodriguez

Princeton Intern

Vanessa is blessed to be at TJC for the summer. She comes to Nashville through the generosity of the Princeton Internships in Civic Service program sponsored by the Class of 1969.  

A native of San Antonio, Texas, Vanessa graduated from Fox Tech High School’s Law and Research Magnet in 2005. She entered Princeton University in the fall of 2005 and is excited to be graduating next year as a member of the Class of 2009 with a Bachelor of Arts in History and a Certificate in Latin American Studies. During the school year, Vanessa enjoys working at the Carl A. Fields Center for Equality and Cultural Understanding, mentoring underclassmen as a Residential College Advisor, and serving as a Peer Educator.

During her collegiate summers, Vanessa has focused her efforts on civic engagement. She has served as an English teacher for Chinese high school students through the Global Compassion Project in Pinghu, China. Additionally, she is proud to have been apart of the international team at the Danish Institute of Human Rights in Copenhagen, Denmark studying the process of state reform in Latin American countries. On the domestic front, Vanessa interned with CATA, a migrant farm worker organization that is based in Glassboro, New Jersey, and strives to create better living and working conditions for agricultural workers. Closer to home, Vanessa has observed the system of local government by working in the office of Texas State Representative Joaquin Castro. She aspires to attend law school and hopes that her experiences will prepare her to serve in the public interest sector in the future.

In Vanessa’s spare time, she enjoys old movies, Italian food, dancing, and inhaling books. She especially loves frequently traveling home to San Antonio to spend time with her parents, four siblings, and two frisky Labrador puppies named Cha-Cha and Vanna.