MEET OUR GRADUATES: Gianna DelMonico – Future Lawyer

Gianna DelMonico will be graduating this May with a major in justice studies and minors in political science and philosophy. Her goal is to become an attorney.

DelMonico transferred to RIC from CCRI through the Joint Admission Agreement (JAA) Program. “It opened so many doors for me,” she says.

“JAA matches your GPA at CCRI with a tuition reduction at RIC. If you have a 3.0 GPA or higher at CCRI, you get 30 percent off your tuition at RIC. That was huge, for me,” she says.

What’s more, DelMonico is a Pell grant recipient. Between JAA and the Pell grant, she has had to pay zero tuition throughout her junior and senior years at RIC. 

“This has empowered me, financially, to go to law school,” she says.

Equally empowering has been her involvement with Student Community Government (SCG). The 20-year-old is not only senior class president and president of the Pre-Law Society, she is SCG speaker, chair of SCG’s By-Laws and Adjudication Commission and she will be heading to Washington DC in May for an internship.

Through Student Community Government, DelMonico not only gained hands-on experience with litigation, she discovered that she has an aptitude for mediation.

“As chair of the By-Laws and Adjudication Commission, I’m responsible for mediating conflicts within student organizations,” she says. “I act as presiding judge, while the rest of the members of the commission act as jury. I found that I have a skill for finding a compromise. At the same time, I’m learning problem-solving, the ability to be assertive while still being respectful and the ability to be impartial.”

As part of her justice studies major, DelMonico is interning at the Office of the Attorney General, observing top-notch prosecutors at work. She’s also had what she calls “the most amazing” professor and pre-law advisor in RIC Associate Professor Tom Schmeling, who, she says, “lit a fire” in her. Yet nothing has impacted her more than Student Community Government, Inc.

“If you’re looking for highly motivated, passionate students, Room 401 in the Student Union is where you’ll find them,” she says. “That’s the SCG office. SCG has done more to help me evolve as a professional in my field than anything else I’ve experienced.”

“It’s the biggest community, with just the best group of students, coming from many different majors,” she says. “There’s always events going on. SCG officers go to leadership conferences in Washington and we have team-building events.”

“During Spring Break, we were sent to New Hampshire to climb a mountain and cook for each other for a week,” she says. “It was the best experience. The friends I’ve made are priceless.”

SCG had its 50th anniversary this year and many of its alumni were invited, including former congressman Jim Langevin, former mayor Allen Fung, former R.I. legislator Beatrice Lanzi and WPRI journalist Mike Montecalvo.

DelMonico’s advice to RIC students:

“If you’re someone who’s determined not only to succeed but to excel, Rhode Island College has everything you could possibly need. My advice is to try to stay on campus. I don’t mean live on campus. I mean try to stay on campus after class. If you come to class and leave, you won’t make the connections or utilize the resources that Rhode Island College has to offer.”

She notes how the Career Development Center helped her apply to law school. “They did magic to my résumé and personal statement,” she says. 

Recently, DelMonico was accepted to two law schools and is waiting to hear from the third. “I don’t think I would have gotten in without the help of the Career Development Center,” she says, and reiterates, “Any resource you could possibly need is here. All you have to do is look for it.”

As senior class president, DelMonico will present the address at this year’s commencement ceremony, but for now, she is reflective.

“Two years ago when I transferred to RIC, I transferred because it was the most affordable school,” she says. “But then I drove through the campus. It felt very intimate, like a tight-knit community – like Rhode Island. It made me feel like I was home.”

Visit the Student Community Government, Inc. website for more information or email ricscg@ric.edu.