Hola, my name is Dafne Rojas. I graduated from the University of North Texas with a Bachelors in Journalism, Public Relations and a minor in Leadership of Communities and Nonprofits. I'm heavily interested in social causes and the media, and how the two relate. I also love my family, friends, dog, and the variety of people I've come to meet. My hobbies include hiking, drawing, reading and playing video games.

Right now, I am dedicated to direct services with our youth before empowering them at the external level, and to build a well-rounded understanding of the internal workings of the Nonprofit sector. I am currently in my second year of national service.

How did I get here?

My family immigrated to Austin, Texas when I was four years old from Juarez, Mexico. My parents wanted their children to have grander opportunities than they believed they themselves were granted; because of this I remain inevitably grateful and persevering in everything I do.

Although I was a shy, timid child, I was able to revel in to my creative outlets, like drawing and writing. From a young age I was fascinated by the power of words, but I wouldn't discover this passion to be my drive until much later in life.

As an adolescent, I was more like a sea turtle catching a current than I was the ocean in making them. I call these years the blighted ones, because I was losing the person I was comfortable with to someone I thought may fit in better with the world around her, all tying into growing up as a Mexican American millennial woman.

It wasn't until I became interested in higher education that I began to reclaim myself and ignite the spark I'm more familiar with today. I was a first generation college interested student who didn't know where or how to begin the process of seeking higher ed.

I have a mentor and Americorps program to thank in providing coaching to the resources I was looking for that helped and encouraged the beginning of becoming a self-advocate for my rights to an education. Attending and graduating college remains one of my proudest accomplishments, one that at times even throughout seemed impossible.

However, it was during my college experience that I began to understand the world a bit more clearly, and most importantly, myself a little bit better; why I am the person I am, and who is the person I'd like to be in this world I live in.

I realized then I felt most content when I spent hours discovering the m