TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

She Considers The Source

ADVERTISEMENT

By JESSICA BALANZA, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 10, 2007

CITRUS PARK - Miriam Romero said her daughter Amanda has always been one to march to her own tune.

'Ever since she was little she was independent,' Miriam Romero said. 'She knows what she wants to do, and she does it.'

Amanda Romero, 20, has not changed.

The Citrus Park resident travels to foreign countries, attends Stanford University in California, volunteers at Planned Parenthood during the summer and is an HIV counselor during the school year.

An influential factor in all she does is the experience she gained while being part of the Source Teen Theatre, 1005 W. Busch Blvd.

'It seems Source always paved the path for me,' Amanda Romero said. 'Everything I have learned here Source has helped me with what I am doing.'

Source, sponsored by Planned Parenthood, provides middle and high school students with acting experience and community service - all while focusing on teen issues such as peer pressure, sex education and drugs.

Romero became a member of Source partly because of a friend but mainly because of her aspirations to become an actress. With time, it became more than that.

'As a Source member, Amanda acted in a variety of plays as characters who were dealing with life-altering problems such as HIV and unplanned pregnancy,' said Bonnie Amson, Source director. 'Whenever an actor takes on a role, he or she needs to really research the character and feel what that character feels. Our plays run for at least a year, so the actors spend a lot of time 'in the shoes' of teenagers who find themselves in difficulties, not because they were bad people, but because of lack of information.'
Amson added, 'Amanda took those experiences and looked at her peers who may have been in similar situations and felt the call to help.'

Romero was fully involved in Source until she graduated from high school and has remained active in its programs when she is not at college. In high school, she acted in plays, went to Mexico for two years with Source to teach sex education and worked on other projects, which all directly involved sharing information.

Romero said the more involved she became, the more passionate she became about education.

She graduated from Blake High School as valedictorian and was accepted into Stanford, where she is a junior. Her major at the university was not acting, as she once believed it would be, but instead it is anthropological science or medical anthropology.

'I want to know how culture is affected by disease,' Amanda said.

Romero began to venture into that field when she participated in a one-month volunteer global healthcare project at Stanford. Through the program, about 15 to 20 students are selected to participate in a project, which on this occasion meant students would go to Guatemala.

Once in Guatemala, Romero said, the students can choose how they would like to volunteer their time. She chose sex education and providing medical consultations.

Romero said training was provided, so she could do basic consultations. Although her parents are Cuban, her Spanish was limited while in the foreign country.

'I am not fluent,' she said. 'I didn't struggle much. I tried to use good body language.'

She said taboo sex education topics were a challenge.

'There are lots of missing links that they Guatemalans are aware of, but they don't talk about,' Romero said. 'They have a basic understanding; they just need more resources.'

Since her return from Guatemala, Romero said she has been looking through her journal in retrospect and has realized there is more she wants to do.

She wants to continue creating illness narratives, which involve the collection of stories on how diseases have affected people culturally. She also wants to educate and counsel.

'I always want to help people,' Romero said. 'I was given so many opportunities, and I don't want to help people in an imperialistic way. I want to be challenged by work and life.'

'Just seeing how interested people are to learn makes me more optimistic,' she added.

After spending the remainder of her summer in Tampa volunteering at Planned Parenthood, Amanda returned to school in early September. She has volunteered with orientation and is working as an HIV counselor for the school.

In January, she expects to participate in a study-abroad program and will spend two semesters in Florence, Italy. While there she plans on taking a health-related internship.

Once Romero graduates, she has undecided on her career, but she plans to go to graduate school and join the Peace Corps.

'There is a lot of stuff she has done for being 20,' her mom said. 'She is helping lots of people.'

As a parent, it was not always easy for Miriam Romero to agree with what her daughter was learning.

'She Amanda Romero would tell me abstinence from sex is perfect, but kids don't do that, so it's better for them to have the information,' Miriam Romero said. 'The more she talked about it and I learned, I became more open. It took me awhile.'

In October 2006, Amanda Romero was one of 10 young women selected by Latina magazine who would be most likely to change the world.

'I am so proud of her. She has come a long way,' Miriam Romero said. 'She is mature for her age.'

'I'm just really proud and grateful to know her,' Amson said.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Source Teen Theatre
WHERE: 1005 W. Busch Blvd
TIMES: Mondays 5 to 6:30 p.m. and Wednesdays 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.

INFORMATION: (813) 930-9476

Jessica Balanza can be reached at (813) 865-1518 or at jbalanza@ tampatrib.com.

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT