Maria finds her voice

Originally published in 2014 and edited in 2021 for clarity

In 2012, Maria was 18 years old. She attended Baldwin Park high school, graduating in 2012. She studied Apparel Merchandising and Management at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.

MAPS has helped me be slightly more outgoing and it made me be more comfortable working in a group, which is very helpful for my major. It has also helped me with my abilities to teach/explain a concept, as well as helped me learn how to deal with stress. I was not very confident about the college application process before joining MAPS. I had tried using the Internet and taking quizzes on what colleges were a good fit but most of them were out of my price range and/or out of state and many times there simply weren’t any suggestions. I also didn’t know where to start with the essay and I didn’t even know you had to interview for some colleges.

MAPS has helped me with my college and life process by helping me [be] less shy and more willing to talk in front of people and give my opinion. It has also made me more confident while facing problems. I didn’t know there were colleges that conducted interviews and I had not even considered out of state colleges before joining MAPS.

After a few meetings I started coming out of my shell and other members of MAPS noticed that I was more outgoing and I felt it was easier to talk to the members. Now it’s easier for me to talk to people I may not know and voice my opinion, which I had a lot of trouble with before. I learned to face what scares and worries me (at the time college applications). Being in MAPS prepared me to mature and become more independent in college. To me MAPS means drive to overcome, learn and improve.