Sanjuana Perez ’11

When Sanjuana came to St. Ambrose, she expected to find students who shared her interests. She joined organizations like Latino Unidos and the hip hop team. And as secretary of Minority Action Community Affairs (MACA), Sanjuana has found a way to combine her passion for her culture and service. The organization volunteers at women's shelters and pet shelters in the Quad Cities. MACA also organizes events that focus on different cultures. They recently taught salsa to the rest of the campus and brought in a speaker to talk about civil rights in Davenport.

In his/her own words:

Why St. Ambrose?

I was in the Upward Bound program at my high school, and we stayed here over the summer. The campus is so beautiful, especially in the spring and summer when everything's blooming. And because the campus is small, classes are close together.

Teachers interact with you one on one, and I like their teaching methods. They don't move on to another topic until the whole class gets it.

How are you preparing for life after college?

Since I'm great with kids, I'd like to be a pediatric occupational therapist. I want to help patients pull their lives together and become mobile.

I plan to observe therapists in the field this summer, study abroad with the occupational therapy program and continue my work at the Children's Campus. I'm learning how my majors-psychology and occupational therapy-go hand in hand: it's important to understand what patients are going through mentally in order to help them physically.

What's one of the most important things you've learned at Ambrose?

Being the secretary of MACA taught me not to procrastinate and to be more open.

What do you do for fun?

There's always something to do around here-campus events, going out or hitting the gym. Around the Quad Cities, I like going to the bowling alley or movies. Sometimes it's nice just to hang out with friends. We'll take our homework over to the Village Inn and chit chat.

What's your favorite campus tradition?

Midnight Breakfast. Everyone goes to eat pancakes, eggs and sausage and gets hyped for finals.