Meet Our Interns: Jennifer Juárez

Hola a todos!
I'll begin by sharing a bit of my background and where I come from. I was born and raised in the south side of Chicago. I am the oldest of three and the only girl. I'm 100% Mexicana and my parents are from Morelia, Michoacan. The grammar school that I attended was Saucedo Scholastic Academy and had a blast going to that school, primarily because I learned how read and play music but the teachers that I was enlightened by made my grammar school experience phenomenal. At age 10 I began to play the Alto Saxophone and was part of the All City Elementary Band where I was able to perform at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Music has always been a big part of my life, it runs in the family because my grandfather is a cello player for the Symphony Orchestra in Morelia and my uncle is a music professor at UMAN (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México) I’m glad I inherited their talent.
I graduated from John F. Kennedy HS were although my experience there was not as pleasant as grammar school; I was able to develop my music skills. However, during high school I realized how unjust the educational system is towards minorities and felt little to no orientation on achieving a higher education. I decided to orient myself on college information and without the help on my counselors I was able to receive two scholarships and got accepted to three universities-Loyola, Northern University and UIC. In 2003 I graduated from HS being the top 25 of my graduating class and continued my education at UIC. I chose UIC because it's a good school for science research and I was primarily interested in Meteorology /Earth Science, so of course I decided to major in Earth Science with a concentration on global warming and coastal erosion. In 2004 being my second year in school I applied to a non-profit public radio station in Pilsen called Radio Arte. The main reason for applying was to get more on air experience, since I was interested in the field of broadcast meteorology. I was accepted and after being involved for two years I developed a passion for radio production which I then decided to change my major to Communications and Sociology with a minor in Earth Science. During those two years at Radio Arte I produced and wrote three shows - Lafemme (a show dedicated to women's rights on a local and global scale), Korner Kafe (a show dedicated to social problems and also focused on local art and environmental issues) and Acuarela (a blues and jazz show). Being a producer and writing the stories of many people not just locally but globally, opened my eyes to many social problems that people deal with and realized that finding solutions to those problems was very difficult. I found radio broadcasting to be a positive communication tool to inform the untold stories from people in the community and the struggles that my people were dealing with on a day to day basis. Believe it or not the shows that my team and I produced were heard nation wide and made a positive influence in young peoples lives. I became more proactive in the Pilsen community and participated in campaigns and served as guest speaker at DePaul University on women issues in particular the issue of Women of Juárez in México. Becoming a producer for show's like Lafemme and Korner Kafe gave me an opportunity to make a difference in this society and showed me that the power of the radio definitely makes a positive change (when used appropriately). My work productions have also been exposed in the National Museum of Mexican Art in Pilsen, where I did an audio ofrenda based on the story of Frida Kahlo, one of my favorite painters.
Even though my career has had a couple of shifts here and there my one true interest will always be science. Although I did not explore the Earth Science field as much as I wanted I still have a passion for environmental issues and have the desire to make a significant change in that field as well.
In May 2008 I will be finishing up my degrees, which is the greatest feeling ever! But ultimately the years that I have spend researching in both the academia and community fields have made me grow internally. If it wasn't for my desire to continue a higher education I honestly don't know what I would be doing right now.
My plans after college is to work with high school Latino students as a counselor, that like myself, were and are oblivious to the college world and have little to no chance of exploring the great opportunities that a college degree can bring. I want to see more Latino students getting accepted not just to community colleges but to universities, because believe me I have met great Latino students who can definitely make a difference in this society but have no resources in getting a higher education.
After that long background... basic things of me are..... I love love love music!, I like art, I love my culture, me gustan mucho los tacos! (I love tacos) I like to travel! Love to dance! and specially like to meet new people... (As you can tell I love a lot of things).
I am very glad to be part of this fantastic research group. The entire research itself, I find very interesting due to personal experiences and because when and where do you find ever the hard sciences and social sciences working together?

I am very excited to meet everyone and learn from each other.
Michocan here we come!