Some students enter college knowing exactly they want to do with their career. One of these students was Anabella Garcia, University of South Florida St. Petersburg alumna and a current Stetson University College of Law student.
Eager to expedite her education and begin working in legal field, Garcia choose to pursue the Honors College’s Accelerated Stetson 3+3 Bachelor’s/J.D. Program — a partnership with Stetson Law — that provided her the perfect opportunity launch her academic journey while still benefiting from the support and interdisciplinary learning experiences offered by the University of South Florida’s Judy Genshaft Honors College.
The Accelerated Stetson 3+3 program allows Honors College students to count their first year at Stetson toward their fourth-year undergraduate electives. As a result, students in the program spend just three years at USF before starting law school.
For Garcia, this meant taking the LSAT earlier than most pre-law students. But she
saw the program as a perfect fit for her aspirations.
“I came to USF with the 3+3 program in mind, and it was a really big draw for me to
go to USF,” said Garcia. “I was thinking, ‘I know what I want to do, and I want to
start doing it now, and how can I get there as soon as possible?’”
A New Path to Policy
Law became the ideal path for Garcia to pursue a meaningful career when she started getting involved in her high school newspaper and video production team. Through these experiences, Garcia interviewed various members of her community affected by local laws and was involved in conversations about real-world civic issues.
She initially considered a career in journalism, but after careful reflection, realized a legal degree would provide her more opportunities to affect change at the source — where laws are produced and interpreted.
“I set my sights on law school when I looked into what I wanted to do and how to create policy and other initiatives, and I found that a legal background was necessary for those things,” said Garcia.
Developing a Voice at USF
Garcia found that USF St. Petersburg’s close-knit Honors community, welcoming atmosphere, and emphasis on environmental science — influenced by its waterfront location — helped shape her legal research interests and professional skills.
As event co-chair on the campus’s inaugural Honors Student Council, she gained valuable leadership experience and learned to think creatively.
“It was a really big learning curve because there were no previous events to look back on,” said Garcia. “We had to be creative and experiment, and we had a lot of freedom in choosing our events.”
St. Petersburg was more than a place for Garcia to engage with the Honors community — it’s where she discovered how she could make an impact.
Before attending USF St. Petersburg, environmental law wasn’t on her radar. But the courses, fieldwork, and waterfront setting impacted her path.
“I have to give full credit to USF St. Pete,” said Garcia. “I didn’t expect to be interested in environmental policy, but I fell in love with every class. St. Pete is such a good place to have hands-on experience and see the actual landscape that was being affected by these policies we were learning about in class.”
Challenges Bring Opportunities
Although Garcia felt ready to start law school ahead of the typical timeline, adjusting to the heightened expectations of graduate studies took time. Now thriving at Stetson, she acknowledges that she had to adapt to a new level of professionalism and academic rigor.
“Shifting into the coursework and Stetson atmosphere was a big change. Law school demands more studying and a higher level of professionalism — it’s a different stage of life.”
“You never have to feel like you’re too young to be sitting at the table, and you have to know what you’re capable of — you deserve to be there." - Anabella Garcia
In addition to the academic challenge, Garcia has been impressed by the environmentally focused opportunities at Stetson Law — including a class camping trip to the Everglades — which have deepened her interest in environmental law.
“Recently we went on a camping trip for a class called ‘Cases and Places.’ We read a bunch of cases about the Everglades and then did a four-day camping trip around the Everglades to see the results of these cases and how they might have impacted that local environment,” said Garcia.
She also worked at the Jacobs Law Clinic where she where she investigated local environmentally focused cases firsthand.
“We did pro-bono environmental work, and having hands-on experience with Florida-specific affected groups led to many of my research interests — it was really eye-opening to see that some of these things were happening right down the street.”
Turning Research Into Action
Garcia blends research and legal action by studying environmental laws, specifically the government’s involvement in Florida’s surplus lands. She even presented her research at Yale Law School’s New Directions in Environmental Law Conference.
“I have been studying how the government can decide whether or not to get rid of lands and what that process looks like, which is not as regulated as you might think,” said Garcia. “Presenting at Yale Law School’s Environmental Law Conference was an eye-opening experience — it was great to hear from all of these different people around the country and what environmental issues they were facing in their respective states.”
After graduation, she plans to remain in Florida, advocating for stronger environmental policies and working to protect natural lands from development.
“I feel like a lot of people have this idea that Florida is a lost cause when it comes to environmental issues because of all the developmental pressure and political climate,” said Garcia. “I would like to stay in Florida and fight the good fight for the environmental issues here.”
Why Accelerate Your Honors Experience?
For students interested in a career in law, the Honors Accelerated Stetson 3+3 Bachelor’s/J.D. Program offers a valuable opportunity to fast-track their education.
Garcia encourages prospective students to trust their ability to succeed and to pursue meaningful change in the areas they care about most.
“For people considering the 3+3 program, you never have to feel like you’re too young to be sitting at the table, and you have to know what you’re capable of — you deserve to be there,” said Garcia.