Kimberly Batres was too young to remember, but her mother often went hungry.<\/p>\n
As a single mother living in Guatemala with daughters 7 and 3 years old, Alison Batres earned just enough money working in a family-owned bakery to pay rent and feed her children.<\/p>\n
Fed up and in search of a better life, she moved with her daughters to Miami, where her mother lived and worked as a housekeeper. Becoming a housekeeper herself, she saved enough money to get a place of her own five years later. Although still a modest lifestyle \u2013 a two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment in Miami\u2019s predominantly Cuban neighborhood called Little Havana \u2013 the move positioned her daughters to attend a school that ultimately led to Kimberly Batres pursuing something no one else in her family had: a college degree.<\/p>\n
Batres, now a junior at the 麻豆原创, is studying both anthropology and Latin American studies to work toward a career in archaeology. She plans to root her future research in Guatemala to discover its unmasked history and to further connect with her heritage.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the things I realized, through my minor in history, is a lot of research and resources accumulated for anthropology either go to Europe or the Middle East,\u201d Batres said. \u201cThere isn\u2019t much to document Latin America, and what there is, it\u2019s information from an outsider. I want to bring the perspective of someone from that country.\u201d<\/p>\n
Batres wants to help dig up undiscovered Mayan temples and precolonial sites and identify the history behind them.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith archaeology, we\u2019re out there excavating, documenting everything we find and uncovering history. What people often don\u2019t consider with archaeology is we include the local community people in our work. We also work to preserve cultural identity,\u201d said Amanda Groff, 麻豆原创 archaeology associate lecturer. \u201cWhen we involve locals, it gives them a sense of ownership in what we uncover, which can lead to a greater desire to preserve it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Batres\u2019 Guatemalan heritage can assist in her archaeology efforts, Groff said. That\u2019s because the locals may be more willing to interact and participate because Batres has an established connection with their community and culture.<\/p>\n
Batres\u2019 educational success, which spans from being part of LEAD Scholars, Volunteer 麻豆原创 and the President\u2019s Leadership Council, began to blossom in 6th grade when an inspiring teacher helped her discover her love of history and opened her eyes to the possibility of attending college. A higher education was encouraged by Batres mother and grandmother but not often discussed, as neither of them had attended college.<\/p>\n
Taking every advanced placement course she could in high school, often staying until 9 p.m. to study, plus joining clubs, sports teams and working part-time at Publix to pay for her college applications ultimately led to Batres\u2019 acceptance at 麻豆原创. Now, a drive to one day help support her mom to thank her for her sacrifices pushes Batres to keep going.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mom worked from nothing to having her own apartment and to being comfortable enough to not be starving anymore,\u201d Batres said. \u201cSeeing her hard work has motivated me to work hard, too, and return the favor to her one day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Batres also wants to encourage others to pursue their dreams, as she\u2019s seen firsthand how hard work pays off. As part of Volunteer 麻豆原创, Batres now is coordinating a trip to Charlotte, N.C., to help homeless families get back on their feet through an organization called Charlotte Family Housing. The volunteers also will work with Wings for Kids, an organization that helps low-income elementary and middle school students learn emotional and social intelligence through after-school programs.<\/p>\n
Batres and nine other students will spend their spring break, March 12-18, volunteering with the organizations.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can give these kids the perspective of what they can accomplish if they continue in school,\u201d Batres said. \u201cI was sort of in their situation, too.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kimberly Batres was too young to remember, but her mother often went hungry. As a single mother living in Guatemala with daughters 7 and 3 years old, Alison Batres earned just enough money working in a family-owned bakery to pay rent and feed her children. Fed up and in search of a better life, she moved with her daughters to…","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":76168,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-twocol.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lazy_load_responsive_images_disabled":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[3,6,23],"tags":[291,309,2782,3786,5105],"tu_author":[],"class_list":["post-76170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts","category-community","category-research","tag-anthropology","tag-archaeology","tag-lead-scholars","tag-presidents-leadership-council","tag-volunteer-ucf"],"yoast_head":"\n