CHS Student Honored as UTEP Top Ten Senior
As a Hispanic woman with family both in El Paso and in Juarez, Jozelyn Rascon grew up thinking that her future would be bound by set limits that she believed society had in place for women, and especially women in her culture. It wasn’t until she began her studies at UTEP that she began to understand that careers she once believed to be gender- and cultural-specific are, in fact, open to anyone with determination, dreams, and passion.
And Jozelyn has an abundance of all three. She graduates this May as a Top-10 Senior with an impressive list of accomplishments and experiences that have become catalysts for her to break down perceived barriers and work toward a career that will enable her to build a stronger community.
She holds an impressive 4.0 grade point average, and she has maintained her high marks while broadening her academic portfolio with as many experiences as possible. Jozelyn was a Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity Scholar (BUILD Scholar) her freshman year and a prolific undergraduate researcher and presenter – both locally and nationally. She has volunteered as a reading and writing tutor for bilingual elementary students, worked for organizations both on- and off-campus, and she has served as a member of several civic and professional organizations.
Jozelyn credits her academic success to the support of her family and the close-knit binational culture in the UTEP and El Paso communities, and especially to the support of her faculty, who, she says, really want to see students succeed. “UTEP will give you all the necessary tools to succeed, from tutoring to just a friend to lean on,” Jozelyn added, “How you use those tools is up to you!”
As she approaches the end of her undergraduate studies, Jozelyn is especially grateful to have been selected as a Top Ten Senior. Her selection validates that her hard work has been recognized by the people she admires most on campus – her faculty. It also means that she can serve her younger sister and cousins as a positive role model. Most of all, she is grateful to be able to represent her family from Mexico who worked hard to give her the opportunity to receive an education and make an impact in the world.
“Success means nothing to me if the vulnerable people in my community are not benefitting from my work,” Jozelyn says. “Graduating from college during the COVID-19 pandemic has made me focus on the most important things in life: health and being united with my community and family. The most important thing to me is giving back and knowing that UTEP has given me the skills to make a significant impact on my community makes me proud to be a UTEP Miner.”
Go Miners!
Story and image courtesy of UTEP Alumni Association
