6.6 How did Ángel get to where he is now?

Some readers may not immediately see the connection between what they are currently studying and Ángel’s work, but learning about his trajectory, from student to volunteer and researcher, might help them see themselves in Ángel’s shoes. How did he get to where he is today? Listen below.

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Transcript: “Back in college when I started my psychology degree, I was always interested in the health of the mind, other than physical health. I always felt that it was crucial for any individual, focusing on mental health. While I was working on my undergraduate certificate, I found research opportunities like studying belugas in Sea World San Antonio through my mentor’s guidance, and then I realized my passion for research through those experiences when observing belugas, or analyzing their behaviors. That’s where I found my focus. I wanted to do research. Later, in college life I realized I wanted to make Spanish more formal, something that I did not have to prove, even though I was already a native speaker from Peru, I felt I needed to have something on paper to show that yes, I speak Spanish. So when I took–started taking not language classes but cultural Spanish classes, poetry classes in Spanish, I realized this, um, courses were crucial for my understanding for the San Antonio population. I wanted to understand the community so I could understand how to treat them or how to approach them to have a consensus with them. So that’s when I decided to study Spanish major. After I achieved those majors, I went to a public health, uh, route, because I want to bring all those things together. I want to, uh, understand the community that I’m helping. I want to understand how I can communicate with them. I want to refine my research skills. I want to, um, make my communication better for different ki- uh, type of population that have different kinds of speaking or communicating. Um, and in the future, I want to focus on a more therapeutic individual health route, but I believe that it’s, it’s better for my experience and knowledge to start in the group, in a group setting before I focus on an individual. I feel I need to learn about the population before I focus on each individual’s health, and that’s where I’m going.”

Ángel’s parents are still in Peru, but their early teachings about community services and helping the poor inspired both Ángel and his siblings, most of whom are working in human or health sciences. Some of Ángel’s siblings are dedicated to this cause in Peru, and others are in Europe. Here is Ángel with some of his family in 2019:

Although it is challenging to be so far away from family, Ángel has worked to build a close network of friends in San Antonio, and he is glad to be able to help so many others through his work and career.