Daughter of Chilean miner who survived disaster to study at UNR
By Drew Bradley
RENO, Nev. — Professor Emma Sepulveda has mentored hundreds of students during her academic career at University of Nevada, Reno, but she never thought that she would have the opportunity to mentor a Chilean miner's daughter. Her name was Scarlette Sepulveda (no relation) and her dream was to go back to school one day, get a college degree, and learn to speak English.
Professor Sepulveda promised Scarlette that she would try to help her in any way she could.
Professor Sepulveda was working on her sabbatical project when she heard the news about the mining accident in Chile. Dr. Sepulveda traveled to the Atacama Desert to interview the women who were fighting to find and rescue their men. She was at the camp every day for over a month and decided to write a book about the accident, the search for the miners, and the role of the women in the rescue efforts.
During her time in the camp, Dr. Sepulveda met a young woman named Scarlette who had abandoned her studies to come to the camp with her mother. Dr. Sepulveda and Scarlette quickly developed a bond that would change Scarlette’s future forever. During those long conversations in the mining camp, in the middle of the Chilean desert, she knew that she needed to help Scarlette not only to learn English but also to pursue her college degree one day.
After finishing her book, which has been published in Chile and Spain and is dedicated to Scarlette and the other women of the camp, Dr. Sepulveda went back to Chile for presentations and book signings. During that trip she spent time with Scarlette talking about the possibility of her coming to UNR to study English for one semester.
Back in Reno, Professor Sepulveda contacted Susan Valencia, Director of the Intensive English Program at UNR and with her help she was able to file an application for Scarlette and obtain a discount of the program’s tuition. The Rotary Club of Reno offered to provide a generous scholarship, individual members of that downtown club also offered to help, and the Latino Research Center added the extra funding needed.
Professor Sepulveda offered Scarlette her home while she attends UNR. Little by little the dream became a reality, and Scarlette Sepulveda, who a year ago had to drop out of school and was living in a mining camp, fearing for her father’s life, took a plane from Santiago, Chile and landed on Monday, August 29 in Reno, Nevada to follow one of her dreams: studying English. She is enrolled at the University of Nevada, Reno in the Intensive English Program for the Fall semester.
— Writer Drew Bradley is the Outreach Assistant for the Latino Research Center at the University of Nevada, Reno. The Latino Research Center serves as a nexus between the Latino community and the university. Its mission is to foster research, student achievement, faculty collaboration, advocacy, and outreach in a manner that best meets the educational needs and goals of the State of Nevada and best honors the intellectual and cultural capital of the Latino presence in our state. For more information, please visit www.unr.edu/latinocenter
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