One of the many opportunities Rosary offers is the Pathways program, which is designed for students to have the most relevant and rigorous education possible for their specific field of work. The Pathway options include Medical, Law, Leadership, Performing Arts, Computer Science, Sports Medicine and Engineering. In this program, students will have electives chosen based on their pathway and will gain access to several internship opportunities and expand their network early on. One student in particular has used our Pathways program to gain an internship at Hydraflow, an engineering company based in Fullerton. In an interview, Melanie Kamel ’24 talks about her experience with Rosary’s unique opportunities:
1. Which pathway did you choose? How was your experience in this pathway?
As someone who has always gravitated towards math classes, I chose the Engineering Pathway. But after doing mock trial, I decided to explore my interest in law and join the Law Pathway. In these pathways, I found it really nice to have an idea of what my four years of classes would look like if I took classes to build my foundation in math and writing, as those classes were strongly applicable to my pathway. The Pathways program was an organized way to explore or further your interests even if you are not too sure about what you want to study yet. It helped me decide I wanted to major in mechanical engineering with the hopes of eventually going to law school.
2. How has the pathway program helped you gain an internship opportunity and eventually be admitted into the engineering program at UCLA?
Since the Pathways program required at least one internship, it opened the door to my search for internships, where I eventually landed a summer internship at Hydraflow, an aircraft-part manufacturing company. In my experience, the Pathways program helped me build connections that were essential to my high school experience as well as my career goals. I loved interning at Hydraflow so much that I went back for another summer and furthered my foundation in engineering. While an internship in my desired field was only one part of my application to UCLA Engineering, it definitely helped show my interest for the major outside of just school.
3. What advice would you give to any students who are interested in this program?
I would tell students to explore a pathway that aligns with the classes they find interesting. I didn’t always know I wanted to explore engineering until it aligned with my interest in math. I also would say to not be afraid to switch pathways. They are designed to help you build a foundation with the subjects you find interesting as well as open the doors to different potential career options, so take full advantage of the guidance from the pathways!
I hope everyone gained a lot of insight from this Rosary graduate. It is truly amazing to see what Royals can accomplish with our Pathways program.
