2015 Recipients: Please click on one of the following names to read their inspirational story.

• Andrea Ruiz Corral
  • 

    “Never forget your roots because it is what defines you as a person and where you come from”. In 2011 my family and I decided to move from Mexico to the United States seeking the American dream. Coming to the U.S without knowing any English has been one of the biggest challenges I have faced. However with a lot of dedication, working really hard, and with time my English has been getting better day by day.

    The goal that I have been pursing since I came to the U.S is to go to college and obtain a career so I can pay off all the sacrifices that my parents have done for my sisters and me to have a better life. This hard work got paid off a little bit when I graduated from high school and I told my parents that I was going to attend college.

    Currently, I am almost finished with my freshman year of college at Western Oregon University, where I am pursing to obtain my bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science with the goal of becoming a physical therapist. I want to become a physical therapist because I want to help my family and the Latino community. Thanks to the community service I have done in the rogue valley, I have seen and felt the need that many Latinos have. For this reason I want to help them by becoming a bilingual physical therapist.

• Monique Miranda
  • 

    Growing up with a single mother with four children, I have come to know the sting of a financial burden too well. I do not remember a time where things were “easy.” Instead, I remember growing up faster than any child should ever have to because my mother needed me. Growing up entailed supporting myself the moment I was old enough to obtain a job. Since then, my goal has continuously been to refrain from adding onto my mother’s financial burden and attempt to abandon it altogether.

    With the strength, love, and appreciation I have endured throughout my life. I have decided to major in the Family and Human Services field at the University of Oregon. This program will enable me to be the support system that many children need through social work. Knowing how crucial having someone to encourage and uplift you through hardships is the reason why I chose this career choice. I feel as if my purpose in this world is to offer guidance and show every individual I come into contact with the importance they hold. Helping others and making a difference has always created the happiness I needed so it only makes sense to give all I have. It is something I will always do, because helping is the one thing that I know, it is the easiest part of my life.

• Amaryllis Monje
  • 

    Seeing the struggles my mom has withstood working in agriculture; from weeding to pruning vines in the heat of the day or the dead of the winter has made me want to further my education. Pursuing a career in the public health has always been a dream of mine. My plan is to become a dental hygienist. To achieve my goal I will attend Southern Oregon University to study my prerequisites. When those are complete I will apply, get accepted into the Dental Hygiene program, and I will transfer to the Oregon Institute of Technology. Once I finish my education I plan to give back to my community and serve as a role model for the younger youth. I find so much motivation and excitement about being able to spread awareness of oral health to not only my future patients, but to people who don’t have access to affordable dental care. After becoming a dental hygienist, I want to provide free dental clinics for people in my community who cannot afford dental cleanings. I know that my family and I have come a long way from where we used to be, but pursuing a career in the public health will help not only me, but other farm working families as well. I hope this career will allow me to take care of my mom as she has provided me with the encouragement to dream big and be the best I can be.

• Guadalupe Partida
  • 

    It would be very rare for me to ever know a time when financial obstacles weren't a problem. I am the eldest child of five and my mother is a single parent. She has been divorced twice, and has struggled greatly, often even times to keep the electricity on. My home life has been often dysfunctional and unstable. I found a job at KFC to help my family, working 30 hours a week while attending school. I am entirely self-sufficient to take the economic burden off my mom, and I buy food or other expenses for my younger siblings. I also help care for my younger siblings as well, taking them to school, picking them up, and providing child care. I feel proud to set an example for my siblings on how to be strong, despite hardship. My home life is why I want to be a social worker: to help others, and to learn more about myself and support myself. Leadership and learning are two things I love. I want to build a career in teaching others, and creating relationships, and social work combines those two things. My educational plan is to attend the best school for my major, which is Southern Oregon University. I will attend SOU and get my bachelors in Social Work, and then my Masters in Social Work from Portland State University. I hope to obtain a job in Southern Oregon, getting a job in the area that helped me accomplish my dreams.

• Lidia Perez Maldonado
  • 

    My name is Lidia Perez Maldonado. I was born and raised in Mexico, in the state of Oaxaca, and although I am happy going to school at Southern Oregon University and to be working at a Montessori preschool the journey to where I am now was a hard one. While I was growing up my mother and father had always placed a high value on education and I remember my father staying up late to help me memorize the multiplication tables by an oil lamp after my mother and sister had gone to sleep. In the mountains where I am from it is traditional for girls to get married around the age of thirteen and seven days before I was going to be married to a man in his late thirties my parents changed my life. By this time my mother had already passed away from a seizure but two years before she had encouraged my father to move the family north so that my sisters and I could have more educational opportunities in the north. Knowing the route their and knowing my mother's dreams that he shared for me he, he packed our clothes in the middle of the night and we fled north, sacrificing his land, animals and small orchard for me and my sisters future.

    Currently I am working on completing first year of my early childhood education program at Southern Oregon University. Even though this is my first year of working on my major I took two years of pre-requisite classes at Rogue Community College and a one year English education program before that. Studying English was also a struggle for me as well as working while going to school at the same time. I dream of creating a classroom that values diversity and community among my students, a classroom that is free of inequality and hate, where my students can develop a strong compassion for one another and where my students can develop a sense of responsibility and commitment to work toward the principles of justice and equality. I aspire to set up my own classroom, where I can help my students learn who they are. As an educator I want to offer positive tools to the children that will facilitate their journey in the first years of school, taking into consideration that there is a large diversity in culture, ethnicity, social class, sexual orientation, religion, special needs and gender. My plan to meet my goal is to continue to take the classes I need to graduate from the program. Volunteering to serve my community is important to me and it will continue to be a part of my academic career. With courage I will be a teacher who can positively influence my student's lives. I am willing to work hard and intensely to follow my passion of becoming an elementary school principal. Thank you for your consideration, Lidia Perez Maldonado.

• Linda Escot-Miranda
  • 

    My father left me at a young age and in a foreign place; without being able to understand of speak English. At seven years old. Place in a first grade class, with a teacher who was not bilingual, I learned English quickly. My brother was dependent on me most of the time, since our mother worked all day. My childhood consisted of constantly moving from house to house and school to school. My mother has provided us financial aid ever since then, but that is not enough to help me pay for college. In 2010 my mother suffered from an accident at her work as a housekeeper. From that event my mother cannot do hard work and today she does not work. My mother’s boyfriend has financially support us, but his annual income is not enough to help me attend college. I will overcome every obstacle and I will be the first in my family to attend college. I will attend Southern Oregon University and major in early child development. The, I plan to attend Oregon Health and Science University in Portland to become a pediatrician. I plan to make a difference in my community by offering my services to low income families in Southern Oregon. Throughout the years I have experienced not being able to go toe the doctor, because it is too expensive. I want to provide low income families the option of taking their children to get physical check-ups or exams without have to worry about the costs.

• Erik Ramirez
  • 

    Change starts with one’s initiative to make a difference. I, as a Latino member, am eager to contribute to the diversity of Southern Oregon University, with the goal of creating a positive change in the lives of others. Yes, we Latinos are in fact a minority in the community of Ashland, but we have the potential to shape the future of this nation. It all starts here, at this moment in time. We Latinos will be the voice of our generation and will shape the future for upcoming generations, inspiring them to become even stronger as a community.

    My biggest accomplishment has been adapting to a new and different environment. Moving to the United States at an early age was an extremely difficult change for me. I can honestly say that the transition from life in Mexico to life in the U.S. was tremendously challenging. The language, culture, and environment in the U.S. was completely new and a massive adjustment for me. Communicating was immensely challenging, since I did not know a single word of English when I moved to the U.S. School became an everyday struggle and I was not able to communicate with my peers the way I would have liked to. Although the new setting limited my ability to interact, I used alternatives like body language to communicate with others. After some time, I began to speak some English, which. opened many doors for me. It opened the door of opportunity that this country offers, especially to those who are bilingual. The accomplishment of adapting to the environment here in Oregon has been of great value, allowing me to explore and pursue my opportunities as a Latino in the U.S. Being aware of the many opportunities available in this country motivates me to pursue higher education. Although learning a new language was not simple, it was well worth it; it is my most significant accomplishment to date.

    Five years from now I intend to be a registered nurse. To achieve this will require hard work and dedication. I plan to attend Southern Oregon University where I will earn my bachelor’s degree in nursing from Oregon Health & Science University at SOU.My career aspiration is to become a nurse, using my knowledge and skills to help out the Southern Oregon Latino Community. Coming from a low-income family of seven, I understand financial obstacles. This motivates me to further my education and give back to my Latino community by donating my time to people in need of medical assistance. I am eager to fulfill my dreams of furthering my education and overcoming poverty. I will advocate

• Arismendi Villa Saucedo
  • 

    Ever since my mom was arrested and detained in Tacoma, WA for a month by the immigration authorities, my future has been uncertain. Since that day I did not know if we were going to go back to Mexico or if we were going to be able to stay. My family lived in uncertainty for over six years. Despite the uncertainty of our situation, I did not give up on school. I knew I wanted something different for my life, so I used our challenging situation as a motivator. What I learned from these experiences is that we can all find a sense of purpose in even the most horrible situations and use them to create something greater. Another huge challenge I have faced is being able to pay for college. I cannot receive any federal or state aid due to my current legal status under DACA. I have to pay for college with private scholarships and financial aid offered by my college of choice.

    I plan to attend Willamette University in the fall of 2015. They have offered me a very generous financial aid package of grants and loans, but I am still in need of approximately eighteen thousand dollars to cover the cost of attendance. I see myself graduation from college and moving on to get a master’s degree in social work or as a nurse practitioner and pursuing a career where I am able to help other in my community.

• Luis Sevilla
  • 

    Growing up I lived in a neighborhood filled with drugs and gangs. There have never been many positive role models to look up to there. Many of my peers fell into the influences that surrounded us and that left me alone following the educational path I’m pursuing. Also, during the recession my dad lost his job of many years and that left my family and me struggling to stay on our feet. During this time my parents were too stressed and worried about trying to keep our family finically stable that they couldn’t help me in school as much as they wanted too. Also, both of my parents with uncompleted education and little knowledge of English it was hard for them to help me, and it also prevented them from getting a higher paying job. Though, they have always supported me in anything I want to do, and now I am going to attend the University of Oregon this fall. There I plan to get a degree in business administration with a concentration in marketing. With my degree I plan to go work at a corporate company, more specifically one that youth look up to. There I plan to help push positive messages through marketing and media. Then after gathering corporate experience, I want to use what I learn to open my own marketing firm and market non-profit organizations to let people know that there are businesses that are willing to help struggling people and families.

• Danielle Zavala
  • 

    Throughout my high school it is safe to say that I faced many challenges and some of them caused me to make some decisions that have definitely helped me to grow as a person. While going through high school I had faced challenge of staying on top of my school work. I wasn’t devoted enough to doing my work and then next thing you know all of my big assignments were a week late. I was going through a lot at home not having a father present to help with any financial support and I felt as though my future was ruined; so there was no point.

    Although I faced a lot of instability with my emotions I chose not to let it get the best of me. Instead of feeling sorry for myself I chose to overcome what had happed to my family and use it as some motivation. I want to go to college to become a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner and also minor in Spanish so that my speaking is more fluent in the professional field. In order to do this I intend to attend Oregon Institute of Technology and enter their nursing program as soon as possible while I complete my generals.

    As soon as I finish with my school I most likely hope to stay in this area, the Klamath basin, because it is the place I like to call home. I am very comfortable with living here in a community where all community members are well known but if I were interested in moving I am confident that in this career choice I can find work where ever I choose to go. I also know that in receiving this scholarship I owe a great thanks to the SOLSF community for getting me one step closer to accomplishing my goal of going into my dream career.

All Rights Reserved. Copyright © www.solsf.org, 2011