“Paying it forward means providing what my community provided for me” reflects SOS Outreach alumna, Mitzi Ayala.
When she was young, Mitzi and her family made the difficult decision to move from Mexico to Truckee, California. “When my family and I moved, it was really hard” she remembers, “we knew no one here. We started from zero.”
Moving to a new place regardless of where, is inherently difficult, especially with the addition of a language barrier, but moving to a mountain town like Truckee brought on its own unique set of challenges. No one in Mitzi’s family skied or snowboarded and being in a subculture where these activities were common ground for most people, Mitzi found it hard to connect with those around her.
In her early years, her mom raised her and her little sister as a single mom, working long hours that meant Mitzi and her sister were at school early and stayed late. She reflects, “Trying to get through each day was difficult”.
It wasn’t until elementary school when a Spanish translator recommended that Mitzi should consider joining SOS and though Mitzi was excited by the idea of learning to snowboard and making new friends, she knew it was an expensive sport and did not think this would be feasible. The translator said there were scholarships available so that money would not be a barrier to participation. Mitzi’s family enrolled her that winter and it was then that Mitzi strapped into a snowboard for the first time.
“SOS was able to provide that bridge into the community,” she says, “having something in common like snowboarding and skiing, doing something that other people were doing that I wouldn’t have had the chance to… it made a huge difference.”
Through her time in SOS, Mtizi not only felt like she belonged among her peers, but she formed deep connections with her mentors as well. “[SOS] provided another support system [by having] a trusted adult in my life,” she says.
Mitzi using the Alumni Gold Pass for a ride day at Palisades Tahoe
As the years went on, Mitzi progressed through the program staying involved until the end of her senior year of high school. That same year, Mitzi applied and was accepted into the University of California Berkeley. Although she was thrilled by the opportunity, she felt nervous and unsure being a first generation college student.
“As a first-generation Latina going off to college, it was a really hard time for me. I really appreciated it when my mentor, Amy Berry, invited me out to dinner. I got to ask her some really big and scary important questions before going off to school” she reflects.
Being able to rely on her mentor as a resource for such a significant upcoming life experience was reassuring for Mitzi. Mitzi attended university that fall and graduated four years later, being the first person in her family to do so.
After graduation, Mitzi did a year of service working for Americorps at a nonprofit organization in Telluride, CO. She returned to Truckee the following year feeling excited by the prospect of helping others and decided to apply to graduate school.
“SOS was able to provide a lot of mentorship and resources for me growing up, and I’m hoping to pay it forward to my community by starting my master’s in Social Work.”
Mitzi will be attending the Cal Poly Humboldt this Fall and is excited for the opportunity to use her skills and knowledge to pay it forward, just like SOS did for her.
“I can say that SOS pushed me to pursue all of these opportunities…” says Mitzi, “I genuinely believe that SOS successfully sets up students for the future- whether that’s going to college, going to a vocational school, or going into the ski industry. From the community service days and the industry days, participants are able to build all these different life skills that they may not have had the opportunity to get if it weren’t for programs like SOS.”
As we wind down our fiscal year here at SOS, we encourage you to consider how people in your life have paid it forward to you, and how you can pay it forward to others.
Please join us in paying forward by becoming a sponsor and donating to support a young person, like Mitzi today.
