Previous Students of the Month

• Remedios Hernández Mancilla

•Virginia Arteaga Gonzalez

by Stephanie Hough Lanier

A Career in the Making

Monserrat Zarate, a native of San Miguel de Allende, is a Jóvenes Adelante scholarship recipient currently studying Dentistry. She's been studying at the University of Michoacán School of Dentistry for almost four years.

In Mexico, Dentristry (Odontología) is a five-year degree. Her last year at the university will consist of a social service assignment where she will actually be donating her time in rural communities and providing dental care to people who may not otherwise have access to it. After graduation next year, she hopes to continue on to a three-year program to earn her special degree as an orthodontist.

As a child, Monserrat always enjoyed helping others who were sick or hurt. From early on she dreamed of one day working in the field of medicine. She is the second to oldest of seven children, with three sisters and three brothers. Although she comes from a family of modest means (her mother is a domestic worker and her father is a carpenter), she was always encouraged to study hard at school. After graduating from high school, Monserrat chose to major in Dentistry because she saw that the dental health of her community was a widely neglected area, and she hopes to contribute to overall improvement of life there. At first, her parents supported her decision, but on the condition that she find a scholarship for the tuition. Since Monserrat had very good grades in high school, she was selected to receive a scholarship from Jóvenes Adelante (a Mexico-based non-profit organization which provides scholarships to low-income students). Little did anyone suspect that the major that she had chosen would turn out to be one of the most expensive of all programs to undertake.

In Mexico, students who study dentistry are required to purchase their own dental tools and materials for learning and practice. For example, a tool called a “pieza de baja velocidad,” used for drilling teeth, costs US$120. Without it, dentistry students cannot complete their second-semester requirements. Students are also responsible for purchasing an ongoing supply of dental cements and resins, used to practice fillings and other cosmetic procedures. These additional expenses can present an overwhelming burden on students and their families, already struggling to cover the minimal costs of a university education.

As Monserrat’s university is in the neighboring state of Michoacán, about a five-hour bus ride from her hometown, she is already spending a disproportionate amount of her monthly beca on bus fare. Unlike most Jóvenes Adelante students, Monserrat must live away from her family in a rented house shared by several students. Now in the most expensive semester of all, her beca of $1200 pesos could not be stretched to cover necessary expenses, and her family simply could not provide the additional funds she needed.

Monserrat’s story was brought to the attention of a retired American dentist, Dr. William Cloud, whose wife I met on a trip to Houston late last year. After chatting non-stop about my Jóvenes Adelante student, Mrs. Cloud offered to pass the word to her husband, who just happened to be a retired Public Health Services executive. Dr. Cloud had recently left Pine Hill-Ramah Navajo, New Mexico, to begin a new position with Tribal and Indian Health Service (IHS) dental facilities near Santa Fe.

After a battery of e-mails describing Monserrat’s situation in detail, Dr. Cloud tapped into his network of dental friends and began to spread the word around. After exploring several possible avenues of assistance, Dr. Cloud decided that a cash donation would be the most expedient solution. In an act of incredible generosity, he wrote Monserrat a check for an amount sufficient to purchase all needed tools and materials for her final semester.

This is why it is so important for all of us to share the struggles and successes of Mexico’s youth, especially those who are bright and ambitious, but without resources to pursue the dream of a university degree. Needless to say that with all of the sacrifices that are being made for her to complete her education, Monserrat feels a deep sense of responsibility for getting good grades and making her family proud. Monserrat’s workload is very demanding (classes from 8am to 9pm, Monday through Friday), and she currently ranks 4th in her class of 45 students. Obviously, she has very little time for additional activities, but she has sought to learn English by taking advantage of the free Jóvenes Adelante tutoring service when she’s home on weekends. She also enjoys jogging and collecting stamps.

So far, Monserrat’s journey has been fulfilling for her because she is trying very hard to enjoy the experience while taking advantage of all the opportunities to develop her skills. She recommends to other students who may want to study this expensive and demanding major that they think carefully about the course workload and try to strike a balance between studies, finances, and family expectations and responsibilities.

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