Henry Garcia ’27 likens his nearly four-year journey at CMC to a “snowball” gathering momentum.
The first in his family to attend college, Garcia was initially drawn to CMC for the opportunities—or, what he calls, “the access to resources that are not available anywhere else.”
“Everything that I do here, I just feel like everything falls into place,” he said. “That’s how it has gone. Each new year, I’ve learned about something—a new opportunity—that’s taken me to other places.”
Here are some of the CMC opportunities Garcia has (so far) pursued:
- Traveling through Mexico, Morocco, and Singapore, which he documented as an Appel Fellow;
- Interning with a U.S. Congressman as part of the semester-long Washington Program;
- Leading CMC’s student-run SOURCE Nonprofit Consulting as a senior manager; and
- Returning to his hometown of Santa Rosa, Calif. as a research and policy intern for a local nonprofit.
Garcia entered CMC as an undeclared major. He soon discovered his calling after completing Professor Shanna Rose’s “Public Policy Analysis” course, which inspired Garcia to enroll in more Public Policy courses, declare Public Policy as his major, and head to D.C. for a semester of coursework and experience in the office of Rep. Lou Correa (CA-46) as part of the Washington Program.
All of these experiences led Garcia to “discover that I like policy and politics. Before CMC, when I was back home, I had no idea what was really going on in the political background and the policy scenes,” he said.
This summer, Garcia has been grateful for the opportunity to apply his skills—and make a personally meaningful impact—as a research and policy intern with Generation Housing in Santa Rosa. The community has some of the most expensive housing costs in the U.S.
“I think now coming back home and seeing things through this public policy lens has been pretty helpful to look at the problems that we have in Santa Rosa,” he said.
Through his internship, he has attended City Council meetings and met with everyone from elected officials to directors of planning and economic development departments. “I enjoy talking to people who are making things happen,” Garcia said.
To further his interest in affordable housing policy, Garcia also enrolled in an Urban Planning course at Columbia University while completing his internship remotely for Generation Housing. His internship, combined with the urban planning coursework, have further informed his senior thesis, which he is writing with Rose’s oversight as his academic adviser (in addition to teaching public policy courses, Rose is the Alice Tweed Tuohy Professor of Management and Government, Director of CMC's Public Policy major, and Associate Director of the Rose Institute of State and Local Government).
Another significant aspect of Garcia’s CMC journey is his involvement with SOURCE, a student-run organization of “like-minded people who are community-driven but also impact-oriented.” SOURCE students work as pro-bono consultants directly with nonprofit clients who need extra help. Once fall semester begins and new students are hired, Garcia will lead a team of 40.
“It’s definitely been a big piece of one of the communities that I love at CMC,” he said, noting that SOURCE has provided him with opportunities to work on his project management, interpersonal, and team leadership skills.
With two semesters remaining between now and Commencement, Garcia realizes that his time at CMC has helped him hone his ultimate goal of finding a career where he can feed his internal purpose while making the biggest impact for others.
“I think those are my two principles. I want to pursue something on a local scale, whether it’s in state or local government or in urban planning. And I want to see the impact and the results of my actions on my community.”