Hailing from the warm and sunny southern California suburbs, Tatyana Venegas '03 may appear as a burst of sunshine in and of herself.
From running the flourishing DREAM (Directing through Recreation, Education, and Mentoring) program to dashing off Russian essays and serving as house manager of Sigma Delta sorority, Venegas' days are a flurry of energetic activity.
Always a DREAMer
Taking an afternoon break from her normally hectic schedule, Venegas sat down and excitedly explained one of her largest passions at Dartmouth -- the DREAM program.
As the summer co-chair, Venegas coordinates the Friday afternoon craziness of rounding up 40 or so kids from White River Junction's Templeton Housing Development and bringing them to Dartmouth for several hours of individual and group mentoring.
Through DREAM each child is partnered up with a Dartmouth mentor. Venegas, for example, has mentored the blue-eyed, eight-year old Bianca since her freshman fall.
The value of DREAM, Venegas explained, comes from what both the children and the mentors get out of it.
"The kids know DREAM will always be there, it's one of the few constants in their lives--and they get so excited for Fridays," she explained.
For her personally, DREAM has provided a much needed "balance in life."
"It is so important to expose yourself, so that you grow and become a better person," she emphasized.
And as she steps down from her co-chair position at the end of the term, she will be leaving the program larger and stronger than ever before.
Since DREAM was founded by Michael Foote '01 in the winter of 1999, the program has seen tremendous growth in the number of children and Dartmouth students involved, she explained.
"It seems frustrating at times -- the kids can be rowdy, and still don't always listen -- but there have definitely been improvements. DREAM has become such as huge part of the Templeton community," she added.
From California to Russia
Venegas grew up the oldest of two children in Lancaster, California, a northern suburb of Los Angeles.
Like many siblings, Venegas and her sixteen-year-old brother had a rocky relationship until she went away to college. Now she says she takes an active interest in his life, and talks to him frequently.
"I never believed my mom when she said we'd grow up to be best friends, that we needed each other. I always thought he was a punk, but now I think he'll be fine.'
Her parents raised her and her brother to be independent, she explained. Although neither parent attended college, they taught their children the importance of education as a way to achieve personal freedom.
They also emphasized the value of religion. "Both my parents are Roman Catholic, and I was shaped by those values, but I can't say exactly how," she said.
"I don't want to say I'm spiritual, because that word is so overused, and I don't want to say I'm religious because that word has negative connotations," she added.
She noted, however, the contrast between her parents: a tall, mother of Russian ancestry and her shorter Mexican father, who encouraged the family to speak Spanish.
"We speak English at home to my father's dismay, but my mom has learned Spanish and often cooks traditional Mexican dishes."
Venegas' direct knowledge of her mother's side of the family is limited.
"My Grandfather is Russian, but served as a fighter pilot for the United States during World War II and the Cold War, so he never talked about [being Russian] -- it was a touchy subject in the family."
Her dearth of knowledge about her mother's heritage motivated her to study Russian in college and brought her to St. Petersburg last fall, as she participated in Dartmouth's Russian Foreign Study Program to St. Petersburg.
"I'm really glad I went to Russia. It was an eye-opening experience, not typical of foreign study programs, and at times depressing," she said
While in Russia she frequented a club that was located in a former bomb-shelter and painted in psychedelic colors.
"The social life for an American girl was hard, especially since Russian men have the impression, from American movies, that all American girls are easy," Venegas said.
Her most vivid memory from St. Petersburg occurred on what she described as a "rainy, cold, dark, miserable day." She noted that "no one was smiling -- they had all been raised to show no emotion."
As she got off the metro and began to walk back to her host family's home, she saw a little girl dressed in bright clothes, smiling, skipping and singing.
"I realized that it was not all horrible, that there is always hope," Venegas mused.
Beyond Dartmouth
A cheerleader at her small Catholic prep-school, Venegas is now a sociology major and Russian minor and wants to pursue a career in international relations.
"Sociology has been interesting for me, especially since my family experience was a clash of cultures."
This summer has been Venegas' most challenging term at Dartmouth not only because she is busy with DREAM, but because it is her eighth term taking class.
She plans to take the next two terms off to relax and pursue a Tucker Fellowship, working for a law firm that specializes in representing people living below the poverty line.
