Major: Health Promotion (BS)
Grad Program: Master of Public Health (MPH)
For Jackie Villanueva ’23, going to college was a little complicated.
“I wanted it to be the traditional way, but due to my DACA status … it was a little more challenging to find the right fit,” she said, referring to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a U.S. policy that protects some children brought into the country unlawfully from deportation.
“That’s when I started just looking at private schools because I knew that public schools weren’t an option.”
Villanueva, a native of El Salvador, heard about the University of Lynchburg from a high school advisor and visited the campus with a friend from Honduras. During their visit, they met Tulio Cedillo, an assistant professor of Spanish — and he made a big impression.
“The way he made the University look was awesome,” Villanueva said. “And we were like, ‘We want to go here and do something and kind of make our mark and just leave a legacy here after graduation.’ And so that’s kind of what we did.”
Once at Lynchburg, Villanueva became involved in the Hispanic Student Society. She also settled on a health promotion major intending to become a physical therapist.
“It’s such a broad major and you can do so much with it,” she said. “The ways you can go and just the different approaches that you can take with the major is incredible. There’s no limit to it.”
Villanueva has also enjoyed the relationships she’s formed at Lynchburg.
“Yeah, it’s been good,” she said. “It’s been a lot of fun. I’ve gotten to meet so many people and just building those relationships with them has been just amazing.
“I can walk on campus and say hi to my professors from my first year. Now that I’m transitioning into … graduating and becoming an alumni, knowing that I still have that connection with my first-year professors, it’s kind of incredible.”
