*All positions held and mentioned occurred in the timeframe 2015 - 2019.*
As the title states, I'm Stephanie Paz. I have a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from The University of Texas at El Paso and I'm currently in the process of applying for the Master of Public Health program at New Mexico State University. I'm from El Paso, Texas and a Tigua from Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo, a tribal nation located within the city. I was born, raised, and currently reside in my Pueblo. Being indigenous is my greatest pride and has influenced my passion - health education, promotion and policy. In my adolescence, I was involved in my Pueblo's Department of Health Services from promoting the dangers of tobacco use, to assisting in the creation of a sexual health curriculum that emphasized consent, respect, and protection. Before I started college and until my junior year of undergrad, I was a Field Coordinator for a research project under the Albuquerque Area Indian Health Board (AAIHB) Southwest Tribal Native American Research Center for Health (NARCH) titled "Tribal Solutions for Native Youth Affected by Adverse Childhood Experiences." In this project, I developed knowledge of community-based participatory research and gained an interest in historical trauma, adolescent development, and resiliency. For this reason, I became a Psychology major with a Biological Sciences minor. As a Psychology graduate, I am often frowned upon. Many people believe that Psychology is a pseudoscience and is not credible. However, the importance of how mental health affects physical health and vice versa is at large, and the field of Psychology assists in such research and education.
In my academic career, I worked with various Indian health boards. Aside from the AAIHB, I was one of the original Health Policy Fellows for the National Indian Health Board (NIHB) Health Policy Fellowship. As a Health Policy Fellow, I wrote a policy paper on the Opioid Epidemic in Indian Country and how it's affected my tribal community. My peers and I drafted a resolution titled "Healing Through Culture", a request to fund substance abuse intervention and prevention programs for American Indian/Alaska Native Youth. I served as a Youth Ambassador for the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board's (NPAIHB) We R Native, an online resource that provides information on physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health for Native youth. As an Ambassador, I created and facilitated a health education event titled "Native Youth for Native Health." The event taught both youth and adults on barrier methods, negotiation skills, sexually transmitted diseases, consent, and much more.
Furthermore, in my undergraduate years I was a member of the women's fraternity Zeta Tau Alpha where I held various leadership positions, serving as President my senior year. In Student Government Association, I was a Senator-At-Large and represented 1,000 students during my term. As a Senator, my special projects for the student body to benefit from focused on sexual assault awareness and dating violence awareness. I was a Sun Princess for the El Paso Sun Bowl Association's Sun Court, representing the city of El Paso at Sun Bowl Association events. After my term as a Sun Princess, I became the Lady-In-Waiting and served alongside the Sun Queen. As Lady-In-Waiting, I assisted the Sun Queen and mentored the Sun Princess of that year's Sun Court.
It is for everything I mentioned above from my work in health advocacy, to my leadership roles and the many conversations I had with peers throughout college, that I decided to begin this blog. There are specific discussions that need to be had and this blog confers them. It is not only my agenda to provide information with research and credibility about each matter I address, but to also be respectful of anyone and everyone while doing so. This blog is my safekeeping and I hope it can becomes yours too.
I am currently a full-time employee and spend my free-time with loved ones, playing The Sims, painting Pokemon characters, roller-skating, and writing.
And with that, I conclude this post as a Vulpix needs some painting on my canvas. :)
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