TAMPA, Fla. — Many Hispanic women are the first in their families to attend college, which can present certain difficulties. But a local nonprofit is making a college education more accessible in Florida.
“I’m from Colombia. I was born in Bogota, and I grew up in a small city north of it called Bucaramanga,” said Juliana Camargo Torres.
She moved to Florida when she was 12 years old and is currently a student at USF studying finance and philosophy.
“I really enjoy the fact that I have such opposite majors. That one is very technical and very analytical, and the other one is very analytical as well, but in a very abstract way,” said Camargo Torres.
As a little girl, she started playing competitive golf in Colombia. She became so good that she received a full ride at USF on a golf scholarship.
Though she’s passionate about golf, she knows school comes first, and a good support system is essential. She’s a part of the Hispanic Professional Women’s Association, where she receives mentorship.
“I’ve really been able to develop relationships with other Hispanic women in my community, and they have shared with me the right way to speak, the right way to dress, the right way to act, as well as giving me career advice,” said Camargo Torres.
“That’s why we want to make sure that they see mentors, right, and they see people that can help them at the university level,” said Catalina Botero, a former president of HPWA.
Originally from Colombia and the 2023 Hispanic Woman of the Year, Botero made a huge impact on Hispanic women in the Tampa Bay area.
“We’re to a point where women that have served as president, as communication chair, as treasurers, are able to give back as mentors,” said Botero.
The organization has been around for 35 years. Through fundraising, it raises money for scholarships for Hispanic women, and it currently has 35 mentors and mentees.
“I graduated from USF with my master's in marketing in December of 2023,” said Andrys Pimentel, a former mentee in the HPWA program. Botero was her mentor, and she credits a lot of her success to the mentorship she received.
“So now, having graduated, I’m working as a marketing design specialist in the corporate world, and I’ve been able to take the experience I’ve had running my own design business, creating custom logos and business cards and different kinds of graphics,” said Pimentel.
“What I’ve noticed is the increased support and resources for Hispanic women,” said Clara Buie, Director within the USF president's office. “That’s why I was so glad that we were able to partner with the Hispanic Professional Women’s Association. In doing that, I think what we will see is even more of an increase within the student population because they see that modeling."
