Leydi Lopez

Leydi Lopez is a second-year Global Public Health major at the Dominican University of California. Leydi lived in the Canal located in San Rafael California before attending High school in Novato. She has been fortunate to have traveled for summer immersive trips to Arizona for backpacking and Rhode Island to complete a Pre-College program shadowing Brown University Alpert Medical School students. These experiences have made Leydi ambitious, brave, outgoing, and hard-working.

What inspired/motivated you to become a CASC Minor? 

In my first semester at Dominican, I took a Service-Learning course which allowed me to work with Canal Alliance UP!. This opportunity allowed me to support middle school students with homework assignments and learn from their experiences growing up in the Canal, which I could relate to. While learning about the bigger picture of the many inequities that happen in Marin County, I was inspired to challenge myself and make a difference in the community I have lived in by being a bridge to the parents/youth that face difficulty with language and technology which has widened with COVID-19.

If you were a policymaker what is a change or policy you would make? 

If I were a policymaker I would make sure that Health equity is being implemented no matter who or where an individual comes from. I believe that if we were to all access healthcare, our social determinants of health would be much stronger. Our communities would be closer to addressing structural inequities and biases.

How do you want to put the skills you learn at Dominican University to use after college? I hope to continue to donate either financially or with my time to nonprofit organizations and make sure to advocate about injustices happening around me including in my future career/job to shine a light on things that need change.

What has been an important class in the major for you so far and why? 

One of the classes that inspired me was Women, Religion, and Sexuality. We discussed important Gender stereotyping that either we have witnessed or experienced in life on the first day we met. I was amazed by how transparent everyone was and has urged me to be transparent to learn new ideas even if it is a new environment I am in no matter what it might be.

What personal experiences set you apart?

Being a dreamer, growing up in an immigrant family sets me apart from others. Having to work twice as hard to find/seek new opportunities has made me enhance my interpersonal skills.

Describe an impactful moment from working with your community partner. 

While spending time in Canal Alliance UP, I connected with a precious student, V. We quickly were able to connect with many factors having to do with it. She was the oldest in her family and was very responsible. When she and I would work together, she always had an idea already of what it was that she had to do but had a hard time processing and beginning her work. Throughout my time working with her, I began to explain things in a different way using visuals to help her process the information. As I was explaining a math problem to her, I had a quick memory show up to me about myself in her same situation the only difference was that I had no one as a resource for support. At that moment, I shared with her about my struggles her age and not speaking up and encouraged her to do so because I wish someone had done the same for me.