Note to editors and news directors:
Ms. Juarez is available
for interviews in English or Spanish.
To arrange an interview, contact Cal State L.A.’s Public Affairs
office at (323) 343-3050. Additional resources are listed below. For more about the
Hearst Scholars or the Trustees’ ceremony (4 p.m., Tuesday, Sept.
22), contact Clara Potes-Fellow or Erik Fallis at the California State
University Chancellor’s Office Public Affairs, (562) 951-4800.
PACOIMA WOMAN ON PEDIATRIC-NURSE TRACK
RECEIVES $10,000 BOOST AS ALI RAZI SCHOLAR
Inspired by her dad and daughter, supported by CSU Trustees,
Cal
State L.A.’s Araciel Juarez looks to help and heal children
Los Angeles, CA
– “Someday I will be a
pediatric nurse practitioner,” said
Araciel Juarez. “Getting
there will be difficult, but I will make it.”
Believing in Juarez, a Cal State L.A. nursing major from Pacoima, the
California State University Board of Trustees has honored her as one of
two 2009 Trustee Ali C. Razi Scholars. The award, which includes
a $10,000 scholarship, will be formally presented at the CSU Board of
Trustees meeting Tuesday, Sept. 22, in Long Beach. (The Razi
award is the top honor given by the CSU Trustees to an already select
group of CSU William Randolph Hearst Scholars, which includes one
honoree from each of the 23 CSU campuses cited for academic excellence
and commitment to education.)
For Juarez, the Razi Scholarship is a high mark along a trail that has
had its share of twists and turns. As a young girl growing up in the San
Fernando Valley, she took school very seriously, earned major academic
honors, and was intent on becoming a doctor; and—who knows?—she still
may someday.
“When I was 11,” she said, “my father suffered from critical liver
damage caused by alcoholism; and his successful treatment by a caring
doctor showed me how one person, with education and love, can make such
a positive difference in the lives of many others. My father’s recovery
has been like a miracle.”
“When I was 15, I became pregnant. Instead of becoming just another
teen-mother ‘statistic,’ I dedicated myself to caring for my daughter
and continuing my education.”
Then, two years ago, her husband, a non-U.S. citizen, was denied
re-entry to the U.S. after visiting his family in Mexico while seeking
an immigration interview to obtain a visa. Again, Juarez adjusted.
“I have learned that amid adversity you can often find the inspiration
to persevere,” she said. “Today when people ask who inspires me, I tell
them: My dad and my daughter. My dad directed me, encouraged me, helped
and supported me. My daughter, Jiselle, who is now 4 years old, makes me
realize how important it is to focus on the future.”
In the past she has focused on learning by helping others—volunteering,
for example, with The Fred Jordan Mission Foundation, which helps to
feed and clothe the homeless in Los Angeles and organizes toy drives for
Christmas.
“By volunteering at Olive View Hospital,” Juarez said, “I learned that I
really do want to work in a hospital. But nothing exposed me to poverty
more than volunteering to help manage the clothes section at MEND (Meet
Each Need with Dignity), a non-profit that serves people in need in the
San Fernando Valley. It was an eye-opener, seeing how some people do not
have enough food or clothes. I remember thinking to myself: ‘You get to
pick out the shoes you want to wear each morning, while others are
fighting over a pile of used shoes.’”
After graduating from high school with honors at 16 and excelling at Los
Angeles Mission College in Sylmar, she entered the
Cal State L.A.
nursing program in fall 2008. After earning a bachelor’s degree in
nursing, she said, she plans to work at Children’s Hospital in Los
Angeles and ultimately become a nurse practitioner with a specialty in
pediatrics. She also plans to help organizations, such as the Boys and
Girls Club and El Nido Family Centers.
In nominating Juarez for the CSU Trustees’ honor, Cal State L.A.
President James M. Rosser wrote, “As you review Ms. Juarez’s background,
a portrait emerges of a young woman intently focused on serving the
health-care needs of others, particularly those of children whose lives
are traumatized by poverty. To this steadfast commitment is coupled a
clearly demonstrated aptitude for excellent academic achievement.
“Her ability to maintain this high level of earnestness and educational
excellence is even more remarkable when consideration is given to the
intense family challenges she has faced, including becoming a mother at
15,” wrote Rosser. “I am confident that her continuing academic success
will lead her to help positively redirect the lives of many others and,
in so doing, help transform her community.”
# # #
ADDITIONAL GENERAL CONTACTS AND RESOURCES:
William Randolph Hearst/CSU Trustees' Award for Outstanding Achievement
http://www.calstate.edu/foundation/hearst/
Other recent Hearst Scholars at Cal State L.A.:
2008 – Kimberely
Suarez
http://www.calstatela.edu/univ/ppa/newsrel/hearst-suarez08.htm
2007 - Lesley Anne
Asistio
http://www.calstatela.edu/univ/ppa/newsrel/hearstcsu2007.htm
2006 – Ana Diaz
http://www.calstatela.edu/univ/ppa/newsrel/hearstcsu2006.htm
CSU news release: CSU Scholars to be Honored by Trustees for Achievement
and Perseverance
http://www.calstate.edu/PA/News/2009/hearst-scholars-story.shtml
William Randolph Hearst/CSU Trustees' Award for Outstanding Achievement
(Cal State L.A. Financial Aid Office fact sheet):
http://www.calstatela.edu/univ/finaid/pdf/Hearst%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf
Dr. Ali C. Razi, former CSU Trustee
http://www.calstate.edu/foundation/hearst/recipient/2006_razi.html
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