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Because Palmer Trinity School senior Jaydis Garcia benefitted from Breakthrough Miami, she is paying it forward by volunteering with the Breakthrough program at Palmer Trinity.
“I’ve worked with Breakthrough Miami for a really long time, since I was in fifth grade,” she says. “I still attend Breakthrough on Saturdays with College Bound.”
She started volunteering with the younger kids her freshman year.
“I help with assisting the students, tutoring or mentoring the students with their academic work or even with outdoor activities,” she says. “During ninth grade, when COVID hit, I volunteered through Zoom.”
Her tenth-grade summer, she did a leadership program with the Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership Foundation.
“I was nominated by Palmer Trinity to attend,” she says.
Eleventh grade was a busy year, volunteering and attending College Bound. She was also the varsity girls soccer team manager.
Garcia is a part of the National Honor Society, the Spanish Honor Society and the Environmental Action Club.
This year she’s the secretary of the Woman on Wall Street Club. Club members meet to talk about women in the field of business and finance and how women can progress in a field dominated by men. The club brings in speakers. Last year a female executive from Capital Bank spoke to the young women.
She’s also in Metamorphosis – a club dedicated to empowering women.
“Last year we held quite a few meetings about Roe vs. Wade and its impact on society,” she says. “The club only started last year. I’ve been in it from the start. I’m in close contact with my friend who is president.”
This year she’s also involved in the International Baccalaureate Mentoring Club.
“We are the first senior class in the IB program,” she says. “We believe we should guide them and give them tips on how they can improve and successfully navigate the program.”
IB Students are required to produce a creativity, activity, and service project before they graduate. Garcia worked on a project to create a network and directory of women’s homeless shelters. She worked with Lotus House Women’s Shelter on the project.
This summer she spent two days a week at Lotus House calling women’s shelters across the country seeking information about their status.
“COVID shut down a lot of shelters,” she says. “They came up with the idea of building a directory so it’s easier to locate a shelter.”
The idea is to find out where all the homeless shelters are throughout the country.
“The project is still ongoing. From the information, I was able to help Lotus house build the directory.”
The Lotus House director plans to visit all the shelters.
Garcia also spent a week this summer at St. John’s University in New York, attending a NYLF medical program.
“It was the best experience I’ve ever had,” she says.
That week she worked from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. doing interactive activities.
“We attended seminars of doctors telling us of their experience in the medical field,” she says. “I bonded with people in my group. Surprisingly there was even a girl from Guam.”
Garcia hopes to pursue a career as a sports medicine physical therapist. She chose that field after watching her father go through physical therapy after a terrible accident in 2021.
“I saw that, day after day, he seemed to get better and better,” she says. “He seemed more like himself. It was inspiring.”
Her applications will go out to the University of Miami or other schools in Florida such as the University of Central Florida, Florida International, or Pace University in New York.
Linda Rodriguez Bernfeld
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