Coutesy of Jenny Torres
SMU is proud to be home to world changers, and it all starts with the moment a student decides to become a leader. We are proud here at Her Campus to present SMU’s Leading Ladies, taking charge and making a difference in the community.
This week, we got to know senior Jenny Torres, a human rights and public policy student who is also the interim president of the Multicultural Greek Council. Recently, she was honored with two Hilltop Excellence Awards: the Emme V. Baine Legacy and A. Kenneth Pye Outstanding Greek Leader Awards. Receiving two honors in one night is fitting for a woman who seems to do everything at once.
In addition to her position as president of MGC, Torres is a member of the Sigma Lambda Gamma National Sorority, takes part in events put on by the Women and LGBT Center, has done her own Engaged Learning on human rights in Guatemala, is a Maguire Fellow, works at the Center for Child and Community Development as a research intern, is part of the McNair Scholars program, and volunteers at the Vickery Meadow Learning Center, which provides language and computer literacy to the immigrant and refugee population in west Dallas
“I really love working there because my parents are from Guatemala (I’m first-generation American)” Torres said. “They’re lucky enough to have me teaching them these simple skills, but a lot of refugees come by themselves, and they don’t have anyone to help them. I’ve helped teach people basic skills, like making a Facebook account to keep in touch with their family.”
In fact, Torres’s family is a big part of her inspiration.
“I have two younger sisters, so being able to show them “Yeah, you can do all this!” and empower them, it really pushes me to do everything,” Torres said. “I am the first in the family to go to college too, which is a hurdle on its own. If I can do that, then I know I can keep leading on!”
Her family’s background and history in Guatemala are a big part of her life. Her next year will be spent continuing work at the Center for Child and Community Development here at SMU as she looks into dual programs for a masters in public policy and law, but long-term, her sights are still set on South America.
“I have to remember that the big reason I’m here in the U.S. is that we were driven here,” Torres said. “My mother and grandmother struggled through years of trying to adjust to a country they never thought they would have to come to. My grandmother, still to this day, can’t wait to go back, but she can’t because crime and living conditions aren’t good. Being able to give them back the country that gave them so much would be the world to me because I know it would be the world to them. I want to work on reparations after the internal conflict there and help heal the community.”
Her selflessness does not stop there, as it is only a small portion of the plan.
“The dream would be to work with an organization like the UN,” Torres said. “I really want to work somewhere I can help a huge amount of people, and there is so much work to be done.”
In her time at SMU, Torres has been a leader in numerous organizations, and when asked what the greatest skill she has learned was, her answer was profound.
“It was learning to not give up. I think a lot of times, people get very overwhelmed, or they don’t succeed the first time and they give up! To be a really good leader, you need to learn not to give up,” Torres said, but her actions speak louder than words. In her sophomore year, Torres had to leave SMU for financial reasons, coming back after working three jobs for a year.
“It taught me so much about pushing through, and I decided when I came back that I was going to do everything,” she said. “I came back with the mentality that ‘You’re here now, take advantage of it!’ That’s what pushed me to get so involved with all the opportunities available here.”
This fits in exactly with her motto: “I am the captain of my destiny.”
“All I want to do in life is dependent on me and how much work and time and commitment I put into it,” Torres said. “All I have to do is put myself out there and do it!”