Several key experiences have brought Ignacio Ferrey to UCLA seeking master's degrees in Public Health and Latin American Studies. The first turning point came when he was a freshman engineering student at San Jose State University (SJSU). Due to his strong math background, a faculty adviser asked Ignacio to participate in an outreach program to get underrepresented high school students interested in pursuing careers in math, engineering, and science.

Resourceful himself, Ignacio found he was also good at "helping others find the resources they need to succeed." Doing so was more satisfying than the technical projects he was assigned in engineering. "I thought, if I go into the engineering field, that's just one engineer, but if I motivate young students and help them to achieve their goals, that's ten engineers rather than one." Through this experience, Ignacio committed himself to working with young people to provide an avenue for them to maximize their talents.

In no time at all, Ignacio was a sociology major involved in a series of community outreach programs: counseling high school students in East San Jose and then university students, conducting Planned Parenthood workshops for youth, and leading focus groups on community issues. At first, his goal was to pursue a Ph.D. in education, but through personal and work experiences, he soon learned that "many of the barriers to educational success involved health issues," Ignacio says. This brought him to another turning point: "If health is affecting the educational attainment of students in low income communities," he reasoned, "then I want to address these issues."

After graduating from SJSU, Ignacio applied to the School of Public Health at UCLA, finding "a warm welcome among professors and students." During the application process, he visited UCLA and became convinced that this was the ideal place to pursue his research and career goals. "I was impressed by the professors' responsiveness, encouragement, and willingness to invest time in a prospective student," Ignacio says.

Among the professors he met was Bonnie Taub, who had earned a joint master's degree through UCLA's program in Latin American Studies and Public Health and then a Ph.D.. Professor Taub discussed her work in Los Angeles, Mexico, and elsewhere in South America. "What really got my attention," Ignacio says, "was how she conducted research internationally while relating it to immigrant conditions in Southern California." Learning through Dr. Taub about a possible joint degree as an academic route to international work came at a time when Ignacio was feeling motivated to help improve conditions in Central America. He had just returned from visiting family members in Nicaragua, where he witnessed firsthand the poverty and poor health conditions that Nicaraguans endure. Ignacio's immediate family came to California from Nicaragua in the 1950s because they needed medical care they were unable to get at home. Now, Ignacio decided, he would like to learn how to empower communities both at home and abroad.

About the same time, Ignacio received a competitive health policy fellowship from the Latino Issues Forum in San Francisco. The fellowship experiences gave him new insights into the policy-making process and showed him how he might effectively use research to advocate for voiceless communities. "Sitting in meetings in Sacramento, Fresno, and San Francisco, I saw that there are only a few people at the table making important decisions," he says. "I want to be one of those people."

Ignacio spent the 2001-2002 academic year in Latin American Studies at UCLA. Most of his work involved community health and anthropology, "dealing with the culture to understand health issues and policies," he says. As he begins his studies in public health this fall, he will continue writing the area studies papers required to achieve the master's degree in Latin American Studies.

One looks at HIV/AIDS prevention and intervention programs in Managua, Nicaragua, and how they interact with cultural and sexual practices and beliefs. Nicaragua was the last country in Central America to report an HIV/AIDS case, but the number of cases grew tremendously throughout the 1990s, as people who had fled the devastating civil war began to return home. During his time at UCLA, Ignacio says, "my knowledge of international issues has increased exponentially."

His adviser, Adjunct Assistant Professor Mike Prelip, agrees. "Ignacio is extremely perceptive about the world," Dr. Prelip says. "He's much further along than he should be for a person his age." While most public health students say they want to return to work in their communities, Ignacio has a better idea of what it means to do so, his adviser says.

When Ignacio arrived at UCLA, he saw himself "running a local community-based health program focused on adolescents." Now, he hopes to work at the national and international level, combining policy advocacy with work at the community level. "You need a combination of both to create effective policy," he says. "I don't think you can just be in your office writing policy without understanding what's going on at the community level, especially while making decisions that ultimately impact someone's health conditions."

Published in Fall 2002, Graduate Quarterly