Since graduating in May 2015,聽Bel茅n Rodriguez ’15聽has been selected as one of —the youngest recipient of the award—and has been聽profiled by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She’s attracted this聽worthy attention as a result of her work with Missionaries of Charity, Missionaries of the Poor, and the Telet贸n Foundation.
At Oglethorpe, Bel茅n was a and majored in , with a minor in .聽Since graduating, she has worked with various missionaries, and is now a community healthcare educator with .聽Bel茅n has been accepted to , where she plans to obtain her master’s degree and then pursue her dream of attending medical school.
Through her work, Bel茅n has visited rural communities in Mexico, Costa Rica and Jamaica to help improve basic first aid, nutrition and mental health. B茅len evaluates and identifies health needs and develops simple strategies to improve health in those communities. She’s found that implementing healthy habits is not just about teaching people what to eat and how to eat it, but also about helping to ensure they have access to those types of foods.
鈥淲hen I was in Mexico, we wanted to implement healthier meals for a community, but they didn鈥檛 have access to the proper foods and vegetables,” she explained. “We were able to obtain government subsidies for that community. Now, once a week, a market that sells fruits and vegetables goes to the town and the people are eating healthier because of it. That particular community was lucky, because not all聽that communities get government subsidies, and that can be challenging.鈥�
Bel茅n says that attending Oglethorpe, and the resulting opportunities have been key to her success. Her liberal arts education, she says, has allowed her to hold conversations that have opened doors for her. During summer 2014, she was encouraged to intern with the 聽in Mexico, which ultimately led her to her current position.
Oglethorpe聽also聽has helped her to network within her field, and make the connections necessary to move ahead, she says. 鈥淣ick Spates nominated me for the Atlanta Business Chronicle鈥檚 30 under 30, and I had no idea.鈥� Bel茅n was paired with mentor Nick Spates through Oglethorpe鈥檚 Rotaract Club, of which Bel茅n served as President last year. Bel茅n also earned the Buckhead Rotary Club’s Otis Jackson Scholarship, a merit-based scholarship at Oglethorpe that evaluates academic achievement, character and leadership.
