THE S.J. QUINNEY COLLEGE OF LAW — When Maria Fernandez took an internship at a homeless shelter in Santa Fe, it was mostly because she liked the area and wanted to stick around for a while after her worldwide backpacking trip. She didn’t expect to love the work as much as she did. “I’ve always had a service drive,” she said. “I found the people I worked with to be so real and raw, and I could see how they were just regular people who were often victims of circumstance.” She eventually became a case manager at that same homeless shelter, helping individuals find stable jobs or rehabilitation as needed. She soon began to recognize that the biggest barriers faced by individuals trying to get housing and reenter society are legal in nature. “I wanted a more powerful role,” Fernandez said. “Being a lawyer can be a very powerful form of social work.” That is what planted the idea of attending law school in her head.