2020 Summer Creek HS Salutatorian Collazo Awarded US Supreme Court Spring Internship
From Humble ISD:
2020 Summer Creek HS Salutatorian Collazo awarded United States Supreme Court Spring Internship, named Archer Fellow
By Joshua Koch | December 12, 2022
As Diego Collazo returned to the halls of Summer Creek High School on a December afternoon just days after completing his fall finals at the University of Texas, the 2020 graduate reflected.
It was in these halls that he found that spark. That interest in government, eventually joining the Model United Nations program at SCHS and serving as the President his senior year. It was this experience that “really exploded and elevated my writing and speaking ability.”
Three years later, Collazo is preparing to head to Washington, D.C. in January as a part of the Archer Fellowship Program and to start his internship within the United States Supreme Court in January.
“My dream internship was the Supreme Court because I’m very passionate about law. Criminal defense and civil rights, particularly. So, no better place to explore that passion than in the United States Supreme Court.”
Collazo will intern in the office of the Counselor to the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Wearing a burnt orange pullover hoodie with “TEXAS” across the front and the Longhorn emblem below it, the 2020 Salutatorian remembered back to his upbringing in Humble ISD.
“I think regardless of how talented a person is, their environment and the people who helped them unlock that potential is very important. I wouldn’t be where I am if it weren’t for my teachers, my family or my friends,” Collazo said. “Starting all the way back at Fall Creek Elementary I had amazing teachers. At Woodcreek Middle School, I had amazing teachers and administrators that helped uplift me. Then, when I got to Summer Creek, I had again amazing teachers.”
The first step to Collazo’s journey was applying for the Archer Fellowship Program. It is a program that accepts 40 to 50 fellows each semester from the University of Texas system.
“It was a little daunting at first, because I wasn’t just competing against UT Austin students but against students all across the University of Texas system,” Collazo said. “Once I found out I got into the program, I was extremely excited because I knew that would set me up to do something very cool my Spring semester.”
With the fellowship locked down, which helps provide housing in Washington, D.C. for the students and offers classes as well, it was time to find a full-time internship.
Collazo aimed for his dream - the United States Supreme Court.
The process started with Collazo submitting an essay, resume and a transcript. He made it through, selected as one of eight to move on to the second round, which was a phone interview.
“I just had to figure out a way to have my personality shine through the phone interview,” Collazo said.
Then the pool was dwindled down to four finalists in a third round and finally a fourth round, of which Collazo was one of two left for the internship. A month after his final interview, Collazo found out he achieved his dream.
On Wednesday, December 14, 2022 in an official U.S. Supreme Court envelope and in it a letter on the official letterhead of the court, Collazo was offered the internship.
“It didn’t feel real at first,” Collazo said. “I was surprised to get out of the first round. I knew that I was a strong writer but I knew I would be competing against the entire country at that point. It started becoming really real for me when I got to that final round. Once I got it, I was completely elated. I’m still in disbelief. I don’t think I’ll fully feel it until I get there for my first day of work and I’m in the Supreme Court. That’s when it’ll really hit me of what I’ve accomplished.”
Collazo will leave January 6, 2023 for Washington, D.C. and start his internship around the 14th of January.
“I think having legal work experience is something that is very important,” Collazo said. “But also just understanding how the court works at a very high level. I believe that I’m going to have insight into how the court works that a lot of people don’t have.
``I'm looking forward to see how the decisions are made and how the court impacts all our lives. I'm there to work but I’m also there to learn.”
Collazo is aspiring to become a criminal defense or civil rights lawyer one day. He also has higher aspirations as well.
“I would love to be a judge one day,” Collazo said “It’s a goal I have but it’s really far ahead in the future.”
At the University of Texas, Collazo is also the captain of the traveling University of Texas Model United Nations Team and is also running for class president as well.
