Growing up in a rural area of Sonsonate, El Salvador, Norma Zelaya Martinez never knew any woman who had graduated from college. Most people in the community, including her parents, live off subsistence farming. A lack of role models whose steps she can follow hasn’t stopped her from striving relentlessly to continue her studies, no matter how many obstacles are thrown in her way. Instead, she has decided to be a trailblazer in her community.
“What has always motivated me is my mother’s dream to have one of her children be a college graduate,” said 23-year-old Norma sitting outside her home in Sonsonate on a recent Monday morning as dogs, ducks and roosters roamed around her. “I have to be the first, I decided.”
Norma may be small in size at just over five feet, but her determination knows no bounds. She has spent the last five years in the dogged pursuit of a university education. Her hard work finally paid off when she was awarded the Niñas Arriba scholarship, which provides funding for young women to pursue higher education, a goal unattainable for many because of financial restraints. She is now fully enrolled at the University of Central America in San Salvador.
“The opportunity to study is very limited for someone from a family with few resources. It’s expensive to study,” Norma said. “I’m very happy to be able to study with the help of the scholarship.”
(excerpt written by
Anna-Catherine Brigida)
