Student Profile - Yaretzi

Yaretzi wants to study to be a teacher so that she can help others, as Maya Jaguar has contributed to her own personal development. She’s been a student at Maya Jaguar for all four years. She starts her last year of high school in January. Her younger sister began her junior high education this past year at Maya Jaguar, because of Yaretzi’s success and influence.

She wants to finish college and return to teach at Maya Jaguar - to “pay back” what she gained from her experience here. She told us that, while her first year at the school was difficult because of the unusual schedule of 3 weeks on campus, then one week at home, she has become accustomed to the routine. And actually enjoys it now.

Yaretzi is certain that the education the students receive at Maya Jaguar is superior to the education they would get at a rural public school in their village (especially if there were no public school in the community). She bases her certainty on her own experience, and now from watching her younger sister thrive in the positive environment that the staff create at this school.

(Interview by Susan Hill)