Finding her Path

Leticia Meza

For Leticia Meza, class of 2021, the College of Education is a launchpad to a career in social work. Earning her BA in Family and Human Services (FHS) this year and the first in her family to graduate college, she’ll be attending Portland State University in the fall for the master’s program in social work. With the support of her family, college-readiness programs, and scholarships, she has taken the first step toward her dream of helping children and families. 

When Leticia was 13, her father passed away suddenly. As the oldest child, she became a source of support for her mother. “I took on this role of wanting to be her right hand, to become the person that she had lost. I saw the things that my mom went through, the struggles of being a single parent and an immigrant in this country. Seeing how she’s struggled to navigate the systems that are intended to help people, but sometimes can cause more trauma and more stress, and the lack of representation that there is in our systems, I knew that I wanted to work with families and children and to uplift them.” 

With the help of Academia Latina, a college-readiness program, and the guidance of an advisor at her high school, Leticia discovered the College of Education’s Family and Human Services program.  

“Once I got accepted at the UO, I knew that this was the place for me because of my passion. Prior to coming to college, I could describe all the things I wanted to do, but I didn’t have a name for it. It wasn’t until I got to the COE and the FHS program and did internships, that I put a name on what I want to do, which is social work.” 

A privately funded, full-ride undergraduate scholarship from the Pumfrey family estate helped Leticia complete her degree at a crucial transition into her junior year. “The Pumfrey Scholarship at the COE meant everything to me because one of my biggest UO scholarships was only for the first two years. I was going to be left trying to figure out what I would do for the following two years of my education, and that’s where the COE scholarship came in. It changed everything for me financially.” 

Leticia completed an internship as a part of the FHS program at the Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS). Her work with ODHS has led her to explore a senior project creating a report on the outreach efforts of ODHS in Latinx communities as the department completes their first client survey. 

“There were only four Spanish surveys submitted out of over 500 surveys. I think that says a lot about the outreach done to Latinx communities and non-English-speaking communities and clients. Not a lot of their voices were heard. My project was to create a pamphlet with research that I’ve done on ways that we can better culturally adapt a survey so they can increase the number of responses from these communities the next time.” 

Leticia’s community service extended beyond her internships as well. She has volunteered as a senior instructor for Academia Latina, helping high school students understand their college options just as she was helped by the organization before coming to the UO. 

“It was a really rewarding experience because a lot of the young women found themselves in positions that I’ve once found myself in, fearing they aren’t good enough for higher education and wondering if it can be a possibility for them. It was amazing to be able to share my experiences with them and focus on inspiring these students.” 

Leticia’s family is proud of how far she’s come. Her two younger brothers are currently students at Southern Oregon University. Leticia says, “I just hope I can continue setting a great example for them, because that’s always been my goal.” While she’s looking forward to a family celebration after commencement, Leticia is focused on the road ahead, planning her move to Portland in the fall.  Upon earning her master’s, she plans to become a licensed clinical social worker and return to Eugene, where she hopes to work with Latinx communities.