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MARITZA NAVARRO

MULTICULTURAL PEER COUNSELOR
LIFE-WORK PLANNING CENTER

Hello, My name is Maritza Navarro. I greatly appreciate this great opportunity that Life-Work Planning Center has given me to work as a Multicultural Peer Counselor. I will be working with Latinas in middle school and high school. I graduated from Luther College, Decorah in May 2010 with a Bachelor of Sociology and Spanish. I worked with the Hispanic community and Luther College community in Postville. I provided my skills as an organizer, typist, translator, and as a volunteer, offering resources during a very stressful time. I also planned recreational activities for the children. I was a participant of a recent Peace Davis Foundation Grant. A group of five Luther students and a faculty member and her husband traveled to El Salvador. Our project consisted of conducting workshops about agriculture and healthy pregnancy performed in the cantones (villages) of Chalatenango, El Salvador. This experience not only provided an opportunity to share knowledge, but to gain invaluable knowledge from the Salvadorian community.
I enjoy working with youth and the Latino community. It will be a great privilege to work with Life-Work Planning Center and the young Latina women. Like many young Latina women, I have also had my share of struggles. I am the first member of my family to finish high school and continue on to college, to attain a better future and be able to provide that better future to those close to me. By sharing this experience, I hope to also share the message of never giving up and of following one’s dreams whatever they might be. The road might be unclear and full of thorns, but when someone sets their mind and energy to fulfilling that dream, there is nothing they can’t accomplish. I hope to be able to become a role model to young Latinas. I am very excited to work with the Latina youth and with Life-Work Planning Center.