COH Outstanding Senior Winter 2024: Yalitza Ramírez

Dec. 20, 2024
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Yalitza Ramírez

For Yalitza Ramírez, choosing to pursue her degree while staying in Nogales gave her a new vision for how she could make a difference in the community she’s always loved.

“Nogales, with its unique border culture and close-knit community, has always inspired my passion for helping others,” she said. “My journey within the humanities has prepared me to become an individual who is ready to go out and give back to the community that has nurtured me so much. The humanities opened my eyes to the complexity of social change and the diverse ways in which people can make a difference.”

Ramírez, who transferred as a junior from Pima Community College, says taking a non-traditional path to completing her degree has made all the difference. Graduating with a major in Interdisciplinary Studies, with Social Behavior and Human Understanding as her emphasis, Ramírezwas named the College of Humanities Outstanding Senior for Winter 2024.

“The humanities have taught us how to be at ease with uncertainty,” she told fellow graduates during the convocation speech. “We go out into the world today with the skills to take on the complex world we have inherited, and ready and capable of making a difference. We live in a time when understanding each other has never been more important, and we stand as living proof that what we have learned is more than the sum of all its parts.”

Ramírez expertly navigated the challenges facing both transfer students and distance students, using her natural leadership abilities both in the classroom and in her job assisting and mentoring fellow students in Nogales, Douglas and Chandler, said Victoria Meyer, Associate Director of the Interdisciplinary Studies Program, who nominated Ramírez for the award.

“I have not encountered another student in my decade at the U of A who has taken so much initiative and impacted her fellow students in such a short time,” Meyer said. “Yalitza embodies how the humanities can help students harness their potential, envision a meaningful career and apply their knowledge to benefit others in the real world.”

Meyer taught Ramírez in at least one class each semester, starting spring 2023, and said she always goes the extra mile, for classes, work or a growing number of extra-curricular activities.

“Yalitza never shies away from a challenge or waivers in her intellectual curiosity as she takes diverse courses through IDS. She often stays after class to ask questions and will excitedly share what she was learning in another class,” she said. “She quickly adapts to new types of information and modes of presentation and has a natural ability to think critically in the classroom and apply that knowledge to real-world situations.”

Ramírez said her ability to access education and stay close to home as a transfer student came with a responsibility to seek out those in need and use her education to offer help.

“My education through the Interdisciplinary Studies program has further equipped me with the tools necessary to understand and address these needs and perspectives on a broader scale. The IDS program has taught me that in order to address a problem, one must look at things from several perspectives, this is why cross-cultural communication is so important, especially in the borderlands,” she said.

Outside the classroom, her time working as a student assistant not only provided valuable experience applying her education to the real world, in real time, but helped inspire her next steps.

“My core values of collaboration, inquiry, adaptability, and compassion are embodied not just in the humanities but captured uniquely in my interdisciplinary studies degree,” she said. “I firmly believe that my humanities education will be integral to improving lives and opening doors within the community. However, education alone is not enough. By pursuing a career in law, I aim to bridge this gap, ensuring that legal and social support systems work together to uplift individuals and families.”

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