A childhood trauma and scrapes with trouble led Beatriz Alcazar to enlist in the US Army to straighten out.

After her service, Beatriz’s husband-to-be was deployed to Iraq when she was eight months pregnant. Beatriz worked nights to take care of her baby while going to school. After finally finding success in college, she was diagnosed with an incurable autoimmune disease that left her in pain and constantly fatigued. Taking doctor’s orders to “get busy” as a message to tackle community issues, she began by helping children in homeless shelters.

Today, Beatriz is a junior majoring in sociology at Sonoma State University. She has received state legislative recognition for her achievements and is a Ronald E. McNair Scholar. She volunteers at the Jewish Community Clinic and is employed as a bilingual educator, a sexual assault crisis counselor and a support group facilitator at Sonoma County’s Rape Crisis and Trauma Center. She is also president of the Children’s School Parent’s Club.

Beatriz’s future plans are to enter graduate school in social work and eventually earn her PhD.