Articles

Eira Corral

Eira Corral is a Líderes de Hoy essay winner in the college category. She is currently a senior at DePaul University.

Maria’s parents emigrated from Mexico, and she is the first in her family to go to college. She chose to study political science at DePaul University because she wanted to go into public service. She became involved in the DePaul Alliance for Latino Empowerment (DALE), the Student Leadership Institute (SLI), and Campus Ministry.

As she entered her sophomore year Eira learned she was pregnant. She was determined to stay in school and complete her undergraduate degree in four years with a 3.6 GPA and make the dean’s list. She realized she had to resign from some of her duties in DALE and SLI.

Eira was empowered by her “own sense of determination to complete [her] college education; [she] wanted to help other students reach their academic goals.” She interned at Rainbow/Push Coalitions’ Education Program. She also completed 90 hours of community service at the University of Chicago Student Activists for Democracy Project.

At the end of her second quarter Eira’s son was born. She considers motherhood to be her most important leadership position.

Throughout all her experiences, Eira has learned that education is the key for the future prosperity of the Latino community. She is a mentor to middle school and high school students to help them graduate and apply to college.

Eira is also passionate about immigration issues. She worked for Congressman Luis Gutierrez and his office’s Citizen Workshops. She also interned at the Illinois Department of Human Rights on immigration issues. She participated in the Chicago immigration reform marches last spring.

Eira realizes that civic engagement is essential in overcoming the struggles the Latino community faces with education and immigration. She strongly believes that voter registration is imperative, and personally registered 500 citizens. She has appeared on Univision to speak about the importance of voting in the Latino community.

Eira is now in her senior year. She has declared a second major in Latin American Studies and a minor in Commercial Spanish. She is completing her senior thesis; participating in a service learning trip with Borderlinks to Nogales, Mexico; studying abroad in Chile and Argentina; and interning at Steans Center.

Eira plans on continuing to expand her leadership qualities to empower herself and others to reach success. She plans to instill in her son the value of honesty, self-determination, compassion, education, and cultural identity.

Maria Magdalena Becerra

Maria Magdalena Becerra is a Líderes de Hoy essay winner in the high school category. She is from San Fernando, California. She is eighteen years old and currently a freshman at University of California, Berkley.

Several years ago Maria experienced a personal tragedy that taught her the importance of community. Although Maria’s only brother was not a gang member, he was killed in a gang ambush. After his death, Maria realized that her whole community was caught up in the “perpetual cycle of poverty” and violence. She decided to become involved to help improve the conditions of her community.

Maria joined several nonprofit organizations to work on issues that are important to her –urban housing and health care. As a member of the Richard Alarcon Young Senators Program, Maria learned about the legislative process, and participated in local community service projects. Some of the projects included feeding the homeless and improving city parks to help remove the presence of gangs. Maria also worked with the Key Club and Upward Bound.

Maria’s interest in health care began when her family was faced with medical and financial problems. Following her brother’s death, Maria’s mother became disabled after 23 years as a machine operator. Her father became the only source of income although he faced his own medical issues. As Maria saw her family struggle with their medical problems, she helped others learn to understand the medical system. Through the Young Senators Program she helped senior citizens with health screenings, and counseled them about Medicare changes and benefits.

Maria realizes she is just one person working to improve the lives of others, but she believes through education she can give back to her community. Maria plans to graduate from University of California, Berkley and the join the Peace Corps.

To read about all of the essay winners go to http://lideres.nclr.org/opportunities/2006_essay_contest_/2006_winners/