Within her first week at EARTH, Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program Alumni, Betania Taquiva Ramírez (Class of 2016, Venezuela) had already introduced herself to all 400 students, the faculty, and every staff member on the Guácimo Campus. “I was walking around saying hello to everyone—even the birds, monkeys, and cows,” she says, laughing. Her enthusiasm was obvious: she had finally made it into her dream university after three years of trying and waiting through the admissions process. Since the age of 10, she had attended an agricultural high school, so she was convinced that studying agricultural sciences was the path for her to grow both personally and professionally. It was her grandfather who taught her the value of working the land to produce food. By watching him —her “Nono”— harvest cacao and coffee, and milk the cows on his farm, Betania decided she wanted to become a farmer.
While she was applying to EARTH, she remained committed to learning and personal growth. She was a bright student and didn’t want to stop learning. Having grown up in a rural area, her heart was rooted in the countryside. She once considered studying medicine, not because she wanted to work in a hospital, but so she could be one of those doctors who travel through rural and remote areas, ensuring everyone has access to healthcare. Later, one of Venezuela’s public universities opened the first veterinary program in her community, and Betania decided that would be her destiny: to study and work for the wellbeing of animals. However, shortly after she began her studies, she received a call from EARTH informing her that she had finally been accepted and had been selected into the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program.
That’s why, when she finally set foot on the Guácimo Campus, she felt like embracing the whole world—grateful for every experience and determined to give her very best. In her third year, as she was preparing to travel to Guatemala for her Internship course, her father—whom she considered her best friend and a pillar in her life—was murdered. Overwhelmed and heartbroken, she remembered what her father had told her just a month before: “The most important thing is that you graduate; don’t let anything stop you.” Betania took those words as a mantra—or perhaps a command—and didn’t stop. She took her exams, traveled to Guatemala, and almost immediately assumed her father’s role in the household as the main financial provider for her sisters and mother. She believes she was able to do this thanks to the support from the Student Affairs team and the psychological counseling that the University offered her at the time.
After graduating, Betania quickly found a job in the Dominican Republic as a production manager at an organic banana farm. Within months, she achieved something she had dreamed of since childhood: buying a house for her mother. “That had always been my dream. Being able to make it come true so quickly was a blessing. I owe it all to the preparation and opportunities EARTH gave me, and I’ll never have enough words to express my gratitude.”
But that accomplishment also confronted her with an emptiness. “All my life I had been focused on studying, achieving goals, preparing myself. And when I finally did all that, I felt lost. I didn’t know what my next dream was, and I realized I hadn’t allowed myself to grieve my father’s death,” she confesses.
Shortly after, she entered a period of depression and began a process of mental health treatment, learning to live with her diagnosis with the help of professionals who guided her. “I’ve always known I’m intense,” she says, laughing, “but I also knew that the level of euphoria and happiness I carried through life wasn’t entirely normal. When sadness finally hit me, it came strong—and I realized how important it is to face grief, to experience pain even when it hurts, and to not be afraid of being vulnerable.”
Over time, Betania has found spaces and people to help her rebuild her path—with tenderness and joy as her compass. Although she feels she still has much more to do for her impact as a changemaker to grow, she has begun with her immediate circle: providing fundamental support to her family after a painful loss and amid an unstable sociopolitical situation in her home country. Now more than ever, she is committed to building her future in rural communities. As she begins her own business, she experiences joy in watching her crops grow and bear fruit after she worked so hard to prepare the soil, scatter the seeds, and water each plant. And above all, she knows that mental health is essential for her impact to endure and expand across the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, and beyond.