Lucia Zegarra 11 Chosen as a Leader on the Rise
Challenging situations, encouragement from family and spirituality have all led Peruvian native Lucia Zegarra ’11, biological sciences, to a life of serving. And it was that life of serving that led her to winning the Hispanic Heritage Award sponsored by Governor Martin O’Malley’s Commission on Hispanic Affairs for being a “Leader on the Rise” in October 2008.
“I was so flattered to win the award that I almost cried,” she said. “So many other people have gone through so many things; I didn’t think I deserved it.”
While her peers talked about the bombings taking place in Lima, Peru, in the 1980s, Zegarra experienced them firsthand. Zegarra’s parents valued education, sending her to several private schools so she could have a broad understanding of culture. But even though she attended school in a safe neighborhood, Zegarra lived in an area of terrorism where The Shining Path (a Maoist guerilla organization also known as the Communist Party of Peru) was still very powerful.
“There were a lot of bombings in the rural areas where I lived,” she said. “Kids that I went to school with didn’t even know about the bombs. They didn’t experience what I did while going to school.”
Despite the conflict inflicted by the Shining Path, Zegarra and her family survived. But challenging situations seemed to follow her. She was affected by domestic violence at a young age, not recognizing it until later.
“I had to grow up right then,” she said. “Because of that experience, helping others who’ve been victims of domestic abuse is very dear to my heart.”
She began reaching out to others, visiting children’s hospitals in Peru every weekend to play with abandoned children. Later she became the coordinator of a social help project for a school confirmation program tutoring children of uneducated parents. “I would go to the rural areas with band-aids, but I just couldn’t do it all without money,” she said. “That’s when I decided I needed to become a doctor.”
When her father moved to the United States to make money, Zegarra waited for her opportunity to attend medical school in America. Her family relocated separately, her father first then followed by Zegarra and her siblings and finally her mother. It cost $800 per person, and the application process took 13 years.
In 2002, Lucia moved to California and started her volunteer work in the States by volunteering at Tahoe Women’s Services and Hospice. She partnered with her mother obtaining a crisis intervention certification to help other women as well as children who witnessed violence.
She eventually relocated to Silver Spring, Maryland, in Montgomery County, where she began working toward a degree at Montgomery College. Two years later, she applied as a pre-med biological sciences major at UMBC and was accepted.
Although Zegarra is on a path of success, challenges continue to crop up. She was recently diagnosed with reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome, a chronic pain disease. Because the pain occurs primarily in her hands, it makes it difficult for her to write and type. But she makes the best of it, focusing primarily on getting through her studies.
Zegarra currently works part-time for the Catholic Charities for Homeless as a rehabilitation counselor in Washington, DC. Her long-term goal is to establish a non-profit organization to provide free bilingual mental and physical health services not only to the underprivileged members of the local community, but also to third world countries.
When talking about the future, she has realistic expectations.
“I’m not Jesus. I’m not God,” she said. “But maybe I can help someone.”
(12/5/08)
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