This month we would like to celebrate our four Live Your Dream awardees. Each is a positive, strong, brave, independent woman who has worked hard to make impressive progress in her personal and professional life. All are stars and serve as shining examples to us all.

Diana Diaz is a single mother to a seven-year-old daughter named Daniella and is studying to achieve her childhood dream of becoming a nurse. After applying to a number of competitive colleges across the state of California, Diana recently uprooted her life in San Marcos to accept an offer to train as a Registered Nurse at Modesto Junior College in Modesto, California. With her parents residing in Mexico, Diana is determinedly and single-handedly supporting herself as a full-time student and primary caregiver to her daughter and is on-track to graduate as an RN in 2023.

Amy DeMar was awarded a Live Your Dream Scholarship as an at-large applicant this year, as there was no local Soroptimist chapter close to where she currently resides in Aztec, New Mexico with her five-year-old son, Samuel. Amy is studying Psychology and her ideal role is to become a civilian military psychologist and practice in the field with service members during their deployments. She hopes to help and inspire those suffering with PTSD, giving them the proper tools to live long and productive lives long after the battles are over.

Our next awardee, Jasmine Davis, has been amazingly resilient and persistent, dealing with abusive relationships, overcoming homelessness and recently experiencing the loss of a parent from Covid-19. A loving mother to her three-year-old son, RJ, Jasmine has persevered through tragedy and is now studying for an Associate’s Degree in Information Technology at Miramar College. Her dream role is to work for the Department of Justice, the FBI, or CIA in a cybersecurity-related capacity, serving her country to do what comes naturally to her – helping make the world a safer place and protecting members of the public from harm.

Rebecca Villalobos is a self-employed esthetician and mother of two small children under the age of three. After suffering with low self-esteem in her teen years, Rebecca has used her experience and role as a single mother to aspire to help others. She is studying for an Associate’s Degree in Sociology at Mira Costa College, with a view to attending graduate school at Cal State San Marcos and pursuing a career in the public service sectors

Let the Soroptimist celebrations continue! While we are still in the midst of our 100th anniversary, 2022 marks the 50th anniversary of the Live Your Dream Awards®. Even though the program has adorned other names since 1972—including the Training and Awards Program and the Women’s Opportunity Awards—our ambition to help women create a better life for themselves and their families through access to education and training has always remained the same. See how the program began and how it evolved over the last half century.

Read about the evolution of our Live Your Dream Awards HERE.

October 19, 2021, Vista, CA–If the past year has taught us anything, focusing on positive actions and forward momentum is essential as we slowly emerge from the strange anti-social cocoon forced upon all of us. There is no better time than now to introduce a few of the women who are currently pursuing higher education to better the lives of themselves and their children during this global pandemic. The Live Your Dream Awards were created for this very purpose, to help support these courageous women to make a difference in this world by empowering them to be the best possible versions of themselves.

This year, the club has raised over $21,000 to award seven women, giving them a much-deserved opportunity to improve their lives through further education. With funding and support from our Soroptimist club, the women can utilize the awards for food, rent, bills, travel, tuition, or in any other way that will help them along the path to ultimately achieving their dream jobs and inspiring other women in the process.

For many of these women, the Live Your Dream Award is a lifeline, becoming instrumental in stopping the perpetuating toxic cycle of abuse, neglect, or addiction that could have otherwise led them down a darker path. Situations often experienced by young mothers struggling to support themselves can include being abused or abandoned by a partner, suffering with mental health or addictions, or being forced into risky situations against their will have become all too common, which is why Soroptomist is dedicated to improve the lives of women in the community and around the world.

This month there are three more Live Your Dream Awardees we would like to celebrate. Each is a positive, strong, brave, independent woman who has worked hard to make impressive progress in her personal and professional lifes. All are stars and serve as shining examples to us all.

Raniqua
Raniqua is a mother of two daughters, Journey and Amiah, and is working at Solutions for Change, a non-profit in Vista that most of us are familiar with that helps get individuals and families back on their feet.

Raniqua has a certification and works as a Peer Support Coach and only has one semester left at Vista Adult School until she gains her qualification in Medical Administration. Coming from a large family–she has nine brothers and sisters–she enjoys sports like cross-country running, track and field and basketball.

Rachel
Rachel is a mother of three boys, Daniel, Isaac and Junior, and enjoys being active in activities at her church in her spare time. Her youngest son, Daniel, suffers from Mast Cell Disease, which often triggers sudden, unpredictable food allergies that can leave him hospitalized. After spending a lot of time in hospitals, Rachel’s dream is to help people by becoming a nurse.

Rachel goes to Palomar College and will graduate in 2025 with her degree in Nursing. In the meantime, she will also gain an MA or LA certification from MiraCosta College before she gains her nursing degree. One interesting fact is that Rachel’s father is an author, and she hopes to write a book one day to follow in his footsteps.

Monica
Monica is mom to three boys and her children are active in soccer and boxing. Monica works at a school for children with special needs during the week and, on weekends, works at Aurora, which helps people with mental health and addiction issues.
Monica is dedicated to helping people and is graduating with a degree in Psychology from Cal State San Marcos next August.

In addition to studying Psychology, Monica is also considering attending the academy to become a probation officer. ⬛