Capital High School graduate Amy Collen Jaquette had an internal struggle when she was applying to college.

"I was torn between whether I wanted to do journalism or law," Collen Jaquette said.

She initially chose journalism and began her studies at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. But she just couldn't let all those years of participating in mock trial teams both at Capital High School and Northwestern University go to waste.

She got into Georgetown University Law Center and in May 2006, graduated magna cum laude and got a job in Maryland with the United States District Court. In September 2009, she landed her dream job as an assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia.

The job "is essentially being a federal prosecutor," she said in a recent phone interview after her long day at work. "I was thrilled. It's one of those positions that I had been dreaming about, eventually, but it wasn't something I thought would happen so soon. It's really exciting to be in a job that I love and can see myself doing for a long time."

Since Collen Jaquette is still learning the ropes, she said her days are long, but because she is doing what she loves it's worth it.

"I love to argue," Collen Jaquette said with a laugh. "The kind of work I do now is trial law and you're doing a lot of oral speaking to judges or juries — it's right up my alley."

When Collen Jaquette was a student at Capital High School, she considered herself "on the nerdy side of things" but not to the point where her only interest was academics.

She was always involved in both the journalism program and the mock trial team at the school.

"My most important (extracurricular activity) was mock trial, which I did for three years," Collen Jaquette said. "I ended up being a lawyer and that's probably why."

She also wrote for The New Mexican's teen section, Generation Next and the Capital High School newspaper, The Jaguar Voice.

"My last year (at Capital) I was the editor-in-chief (of The Jaguar Voice)," Collen Jaquette said. She got into the prestigious Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University and didn't want to waste an opportunity.

"I thought it was a great opportunity to go to school at Medill," Collen Jaquette said. "I was excited about getting out of New Mexico and seeing what the world was like — especially a big city like Chicago."

She continued to participate on the mock trial team at Northwestern, of which she was selected as the team captain three years in a row. She worked as an assignment editor for the News Network at the school and was an intern at two different television news stations in 2000 and 2001.

While she had the skills to become either a lawyer or a journalist, she finally picked one and enrolled in law school.

"I like to argue and you don't get to do that as a journalist," Collen Jaquette said.

In addition to working as a lawyer, she coaches the mock trial team at Georgetown University.

While Collen Jaquette is loving her new job, she is not loving the fact that there is no red or green chile in Washington, D.C.

"I was very upset, I bought frozen red and green chile to take home with me and I forgot it," Collen Jaquette said, referencing her recent trip home to visit her family for the holidays.

Collen Jaquette said she owes her success to her supportive family, especially her mom, Kathy Collen, who is "always there rooting for me."

Collen said she is proud of her daughter's success, not only for obvious reasons, but because Collen Jaquette exemplifies that Santa Fe Public Schools' students can do big things.

"I get tired of hearing how terrible education is here," Collen wrote in an e-mail to The New Mexican. "Both Amy and her brother, Brian (Collen), were educated here and both have become successful individuals."

Brian Collen is an electrical engineer with L-3 Communciations in Arlington, Texas.

Collen Jaquette also credits two teachers at Capital High School — Mary Massey and Maureen Nelson — for her success.

"They made a huge impact on my studies there," Collen Jaquette said. "They were the kind of teachers who really took a personal interest in me and made me believe I could go off to nationally known schools and get the type of job that I have now. You don't get that from every teacher that you have."

But Collen Jaquette also acknowledges that she herself had a lot to do with her success.

"Dream big," she said when asked what advice she'd give young Santa Fe students. "That's where success starts — in your own head. Believe there is something out there you want to do and do it. The reality is that it doesn't matter if you're coming from some fancy private school, if you put in the time and have the persistence, you can achieve whatever you want to."

Contact Ana Maria Trujillo at 986-3084 or atrujillo@sfnewmexican.com.