Law Student Profile
Raquel Bracho, University of Maryland School of Law By Teresa Cajot Raquel Bracho has always been involved in public service. In high school, she earned an International Baccalaureate Diploma after completing more than 150 hours of community service. While working on her undergraduate degree at John Hopkins, she established Lambda Pi Chi, a Latina community service-oriented sorority, and also worked with high school students to educate them about sexually transmitted diseases and the risks of illegal drug use.
Even after entering the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law in the Baltimore area, she did not allow her demanding schedule to take away from public service activities. As a third-year law student she was selected by the White House as a Champion for Change, an award that is extended to individuals who have demonstrated exceptional commitment to public service. She was nominated, along with ten other students, by the Hispanic Heritage Foundation’s Latinos on a Fast Track Institute (LOFT). As a result, Bracho was granted the opportunity to meet with White House officials and to take part in a LOFT two-day leadership program with 50 other students from across the nation. The prospective 2012 graduate was also the winner of an Albert Schweitzer Fellowship and has committed to 200 hours of service through her project, “A Wellness Approach to Health”. Bracho’s wellness project consists of a range of health-focused activities, including quality improvement and stress management workshops.
Bracho is also a board member of the Maryland Law Service Corps, which serves the underprivileged and underrepresented in the Gulf Coast through free legal services. She has worked as a fellow for the general counsel of the Dimensions Hospital System since July and from June of 2010 until April of 2011 she served as an intern in the Office of Civil Rights at the United States Department of Commerce. She was an administrative assistant at the Lupus Foundation of America, Inc. in 2007 and 2008. In addition to functioning as an Orientation Peer Advisor, Bracho is also involved with the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities National Internship Program, the Student Health Law Organization, the Minority Access National Internship Program, the Hispanic National Bar Association, and the American Bar Association. Bracho credits law school with giving her the opportunity to merge her people skills with advocacy and writing. After graduation she intends to work in health law.
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