Luz Elena, NU’22

Having been raised in San Francisco, Luz Elena says she was hoping to find spaces that felt like home at Penn—and she has. Her favorite place on campus is La Casa Latina, where she met many friends whom she now considers family. Luz Elena also values the connections she has made with professors, and hopes to find research and other opportunities to interact with faculty even more. Currently studying nursing, with minors in Hispanic studies and global health, Luz Elena plans at some point to pursue the graduate training needed to become a midwife.

“Scholarships have lightened my financial burden, which allows me to focus on what is most important—learning.”

Luz Elena is excited to continue working toward the goals that she has set for herself. She embraces the idea of creating a ripple effect of opportunity by achieving personal success and serving as a role model for future generations. Her prediction? “The impact that the scholarships I’ve received is making in my own life will have effects that go beyond what I can imagine.”