Gabriela Cruz

Gabriela Cruz, Class of 2019

April 9, 2019

Gabriela Cruz is a senior at USF, majoring in Health Sciences with a concentration in Biological Sciences. She has participated in three medical mobile clinics abroad in Ecuador and Peru with MEDLIFE, a nonprofit striving to provide medicine, education, and development for low income families.

She was given the unique opportunity to interact with people from other cultures and formed a newfound sense of appreciation for them. “Volunteering abroad enlightened me on the many different ways we can find solutions to issues that face us globally.”

Gabriela will be graduating this May and has accepted a position as a Community Health Facilitator with the Peace Corps that she will begin in September. “I decided to serve in the Peace Corps because I've always had a calling towards service, especially on a global perspective. I have the privilege to be able to give two years of my time towards a cause much greater than myself and I didn't want to pass up on that opportunity because I knew I probably wouldn't have the time to do it later in life.”

In preparing for this role, she explains that Peace Corps Prep allowed her to reflect on her college career and see how much she has done to prepare herself for the job.

Gabriela offers this advice to anyone considering studying abroad: “It doesn't matter what program, organization or department you travel with, just try your hardest to do it. The perspective you will gain is unlike any other and you will be a better person for it.”