Nearly three years after immigrating to Walla Walla from Mexico, 20-year-old Michelle Salazar Ortega is preparing for an opportunity that could shape both her future and the community she hopes to serve.
The Walla Walla Community College honors student has been selected as one of only 10 students nationwide for the Keith Sherin Global Leaders Study Abroad Program, which will take her to The Hague in the Netherlands this summer.
“This is a huge step for me because, after immigrating, I became the first person in my family to continue higher education in the United States,” Salazar Ortega said. “I know I’m opening doors not only for myself, but also for those who come after me and for my community as well.”
Since arriving in Walla Walla, Salazar Ortega has immersed herself in campus life while excelling academically.
She is on track to graduate from WWCC in June with a 3.93 GPA, honors recognition and an associate degree in psychology. Along with participating in WWCC’s honors program and Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, she is active in student leadership, organizing campus events that help students feel welcomed and connected.
Maria Alonso, Salazar Ortega’s TRIO advisor at WWCC, remembers meeting her shortly after she arrived in Walla Walla, when their advising conversations took place entirely in Spanish while Salazar Ortega was still learning English and navigating an unfamiliar higher education system.
“She just wanted to learn,” Alonso said. “She asked questions all the time.”
What impressed Alonso most, though, was Salazar Ortega’s willingness to push herself beyond her comfort zone.
“She’s not afraid to try new things,” Alonso said. “Even when something feels unfamiliar or outside her comfort zone, she still gives it a shot.”
That determination helped earn Salazar Ortega a place in the Keith Sherin Global Leaders Study Abroad Program, administered by the Council for Opportunity in Education.
The competitive program selects just 10 students nationwide each year to spend a month studying global sustainability, peace and justice at The Hague University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands.
Salazar Ortega said she nearly talked herself out of applying before encouragement from her parents and advisors persuaded her to take the chance.
Weeks later, the acceptance email arrived during her father’s birthday dinner.
“He said it was the best present that I could give him on his birthday,” she said.
Born and raised in Toluca, Mexico, Salazar Ortega immigrated to the United States shortly before turning 18. Before moving, she had already been accepted into one of Mexico’s top universities to study psychology. But relocating meant starting over — learning a new educational system, adapting to a different culture and mastering English while trying to continue her education.
“Moving from a country and a life where I had planned my future to a life where everything would be wiped off the map and where I had to start charting my pathway from scratch has been one of the most challenging experiences of my life,” she wrote in her program biography.
This summer, Salazar Ortega will spend a month studying alongside students from across the country while exploring issues connected to psychology, immigration, belonging and leadership.
In one of her application essays, she wrote that leadership grows through experiences that “challenge how we think, act, and understand others.”
The opportunity also connects directly to the future she hopes to build in Walla Walla.
After graduating from WWCC, Salazar Ortega plans to continue studying psychology at Whitman College, where she has received a full-ride scholarship. Her long-term goal is to become a bilingual mental health professional serving local families and communities.
“There are not many bilingual mental health providers here in Walla Walla,” she said. “I want to be part of that change.”
As she prepares to study abroad this summer, Salazar Ortega says she hopes her experience encourages other first-generation students to pursue opportunities they may not yet see for themselves.
“Everything is possible,” she said. “I know it’s scary to be the first in your family to do things for the first time. But don’t be afraid to start dreaming.” Students interested in learning more about TRIO programs and student support services at Walla Walla Community College can visit WWCC’s TRIO webpage for more information.