Jenny Mejia

Jenny Mejia was born at North Bergen Hospital and raised in West New York, where a strong Salvadoran and Latinx presence shaped her sense of home. Though she had never been on a plane and had never visited El Salvador, her connection to her heritage was formed through her mother’s stories — long walks to school, hard labor, sacrifice, and the meals they cooked together. Pupusas and sopa de gallina filled their kitchen, anchoring Jenny to a place she knew through memory rather than geography.

But Jenny’s story begins long before she was born — in the ranchos of El Salvador, where her mother walked two hours to school each day and cooked meals for the men in the family before heading out again into the fields. Her mother’s childhood was defined by sacrifice and grit, evident by how she even sacrificed continuing elementary school, but opportunity was too far, too expensive, too out of reach.

Those stories that Jenny heard from her mother became a compass and made her determined to chase the education her mother never received.

As the oldest child, Jenny took on adult responsibilities early. She translated documents, filled out insurance forms for the family, and picked up her sisters after school because her parents were working. Her mother would tell her, “Enfócate y échale ganas para que no tengas que limpiar pata sucia.” Focus and work hard for what you are passionate about so you never have to do work that feels like you are “cleaning somebody else’s dirty feet.”

Jenny always loved learning — she was in the Gifted and Talented program in elementary school — but high school brought direction. As a freshman, she planned to “do well,” but it wasn’t until sophomore year, when she discovered she was ranked #2 in her class, that she set her eyes on becoming valedictorian. From then on, she took the most rigorous schedule Memorial High School offered, stretching herself academically and proving, year after year, that she belonged among the top students in her school.

But behind her success were real challenges. Because she was responsible for picking up her sisters, she couldn’t join sports or after-school clubs. “My schedule depended on when my parents could pick us up,” she says. When she once asked to apply to the local magnet school, she remembers her parents saying, “Why would you apply to a school when you could be nearby and work close to home to take care of your family?” Jenny didn’t yet have the voice to push back.

Years later, when she got into Stevens Institute of Technology’s summer program and decided to attend, instead of staying at home and taking care of her family all summer, she found that voice. “That was the first time I advocated for myself,” she remembers. “And I realized I had to keep doing that.”

Jenny joined Circle Match after attending the auditorium information session, where she heard older students — including Aiden and Melissa — talk about their journeys. Their stories felt like a mirror of her own. She spoke with them afterward and knew immediately that this was the community she needed.

Circle Match gave her direction. During junior year, advisors helped her apply to the College Prep Scholars program. But senior year was when the work became real. With five AP classes and seventeen college applications, working a job, taking care of her sisters, and other family pressures, she felt stretched thin. Her advisors at Circle Match became a lifeline “I could tell they knew exactly how to help us,” she says. “Their writing, their ideas, the way they helped organize my supplemental essays — it all made my applications stronger.”

One moment stands out above the rest: a one-on-one meeting with Lizzett at Cortaditos, a local Cuban cafe. They talked about stress, doubt, dreams — the big, scary things seniors often keep to themselves. Lizzett showed her Michael’s Yale acceptance video and told her how proud she was of Jenny’s work. She left that café feeling grounded, reassured that she was walking toward something real.

At first, Jenny imagined herself at a highly competitive college. But when decisions came, she realized what she truly wanted was choice — the ability to pick a future she felt aligned with. And that’s exactly what she got. When she committed to the University of Virginia, she felt proud.

Today, Jenny is studying Biomedical Engineering at UVA. She has found community in Chi Alpha, explored new academic passions, and experienced life at a slower, quieter pace than the fast rhythm of West New York. Charlottesville has taught her the value of stillness — the opportunity to be present, to study in a quiet library, to have her own space to grow. “At home, I never had a study space,” she says. “Being here feels like a privilege — and a responsibility.”

Jenny returned to Circle Match as a near-peer advisor because she knows how heavy senior year can feel. She remembers trying to balance school, family responsibilities, and supplemental college essays. She wanted to be the person for other students that Melissa, Annalie, Angela, and Lizzett were for her. “Circle Match gave me so much,” she says. “I wanted to give that back.”

Paying it forward, to Jenny, means helping others move toward a future filled with opportunity and stability — the very things her parents sacrificed for. It means showing students that mobility is possible, that they can take care of their families and find spaces where they belong. Advising has shown her how powerful that message can be.

Looking ahead, Jenny dreams of a career where she can help people through biomedical innovation — maybe through medical devices, maybe through becoming a doctor. She wants to own a home one day, to give her family space after years in crowded apartments, and to help her family experience joys they’ve never had. She dreams of helping her mother build a home on the plot of land she worked so hard to earn in El Salvador.