neuropsychology.While studying abroad, she studied indigenous medicine in Brazil and Australia, where she learned techniques that help her in taking care of herself today. She believes that she developed more independence while at Scripps, which, she says, “prepares you for work in the sense that [employers] expect integrity and 100% effort in everything you do.” “I am convinced that the way we feel, believe, and identify, directly affects the performance from our body,” she says. Her multiple sclerosis has been in remission since July 2002, and she is looking forward to graduate studies towards a Psy.D. in pediatric psychoneuroimmunology at Ryokan College in Santa Monica. Jessica currently lives in Beverly Hills, where she is in medical supplies sales.
patricia santos ’03 With tenacity and strength, Patricia Santos was able to overcome enormous obstacles to achieve her lifelong goal of becoming a college graduate. A single mother of three, Patricia worked fulltime, tackled legal battles, and maintained a high GPA to complete her education at Scripps College. Patricia chose the struggles of single motherhood over what many would consider a perfectly stable life—one with a husband, a home, and a well-paying job—when she agreed to take in three abused infant boys who would later be diagnosed with ADD and other learning and emotional problems.While working towards formal adoption, she found herself unemployed, divorced, renting again, and challenged with the task of providing a home for the children and her recently impoverished elderly parents as well. “Taking in three young children was extraordinary, but raising them as a single parent was something even a strong and determined woman like myself was unprepared for,” she admits in her senior thesis, Disrespecting Children: Disclosing the Adverse Effects of Children’s Public Policies, An Autobiographical Case Study. Instead of crumbling under the
bulletin, summer 2003
From left, Hannah Turiansky; Jessica Lefils-Shaw with her bullmastiff, Grace; Patricia Santos and sons Alex and Anthony (Alex holds a photograph of his brother Albert). Santos was the 2001–02 Catharine Raynolds Berger Scholar, awarded to re-entry students 24 years or older.
responsibility, Patricia simply accelerated her plan to become a professional in law. Already certified as a paralegal, she rushed to complete an associate’s degree—with an outstanding academic record—before applying to Scripps. While at Scripps, her sons’ social workers portrayed her as a mother who was “too busy with [her] education” to properly care for her children.They subsequently filed an accusatory report with the County of Los Angeles, who, in response, abruptly removed the boys from Santos’ care. It was at this moment in her life that Patricia put the spirit of empowerment and enrichment she received as a Scripps student to good use. She notes: “[Scripps] prepared me to withstand this major blow; had I not had a network of support at Scripps I would not have gotten through it.” She began researching cases similar to her own and took a stand against the Los Angeles Department of Child and Family Services. Eventually, she regained custody of two of her children, but is still fighting through the court system for her youngest. Though far from a “traditional student,” Patricia never felt that she had to choose between her family and completing her education, and largely she credits this to her relationships with the faculty. She maintains that a Scripps education affords its alumnae “the ability to forge through when life gets in your way,” and she proudly offers her own story as living proof. Patricia’s post-graduation plans center on applying her legal knowledge to continue to fight for the return of her youngest son. Santos also plans to continue her studies this fall at Claremont Graduate University, where she will pursue a master’s degree in applied women’s studies.
For 2002–03, Lefils-Shaw was named the Florence and Mary B. Eyre Scholar.
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