FeatureD Alumni:

Class of 2002

Ana Angelica Viciana

After I graduated from CEA in 2002, I attended Our Lady of Lourdes Academy for high school, graduating in 2006 as valedictorian of my class. From Lourdes, I went to the University of Miami, graduating in 2009 summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a Bachelor of Arts in History. I graduated from Yale Law School in May 2012. Since September 2012, I've been an attorney in New York City, working at the law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. On January 6, 2014, I started a clerkship with the Honorable Cecilia Altonaga, a federal judge in the Southern District of Florida.

I'm grateful to CEA for giving me such a strong academic foundation. I know CEA played a huge role in preparing me for success at Lourdes and beyond, and I know that I owe a great deal of my love of reading and learning to my CEA roots.

I'm particularly indebted to CEA for their strong language program, to which I credit my Spanish-language skills. In law school, I got very involved with a clinic that represented an immigrant community, and my language skills afforded me opportunities to reach out to that community and establish strong relationships and trust with my clients. I even acted as an interpreter for other classmates and their own clients, bridging language barriers whenever I could. Even today, my ability to speak, read, and write in Spanish gives me an edge in legal practice.