Nathaly Del Carmen Varela Contreras has a Mass Communications bachelor degree from Universidad Catolica Andres Bello (UCAB), in Caracas Venezuela. She studied at UCAB from 2010 to 2015 and got her diploma on January 2016.

Currently, Nathaly is working as a Production Coordinator in the cinema department of Tres Cinematografía –one of the best-known Venezuelan production companies-. She’s also teaching “Cinematography Production” and “Filming” at the UCAB Bachelor degree of Mass Communication; she’s also the co founder of the Haz Deporte, Juega Flag sport program, which seeks to promote the flag football free practice, a discipline that encourages public spaces recovery, gender violence decrease and the use of the English language, and, as if that were not enough shes participating in the Lidera 9 program of the Futuro Presente Foundation.  This is her history:

I know UCAB since I was a little girl. I studied at the U.E. Escuela Canaima in La Vega, Caracas, and constantly participate in the volunteering activities organized by the university in my community but also in the UCAB campus. The fact always impressed me is that something as majestic as this university (UCAB) was so near to my neighborhood.

The decision of studying at UCAB was triggered by a Mass Communication student, who was a volunteer in my school, she asked me what I wanted to study and in that moment I was clueless, so I asked her about her career and she explained me some of the qualities that she considered were necessary to be a successful mass communicator: to not be afraid of embarrassment, to be talkative, to know how to write properly, among others.

While she was talking to me, I thought to myself: ‘I have a lot of these qualities´ and it was right there where I decided to study Mass Communication. I told my decision to the volunteer and she said: ´Ok colleague, we will see each other at the UCAB´. That last phrase became a kind of challenge for me. After that moment I always said that I wanted to study Mass Communication at UCAB.

When I was at my senior year in high school I went to the UCAB campus to ask about the pre registrations dates and the program fees and costs. Then I realized that it was impossible for me to pay any of that; nevertheless I decided to go ahead with the pre registration process. While I was seated in a bench in front of the General Secretariat I meet with an Escuela Canaima teacher who asked me what was I doing there and I told her that I was in the middle of the preinscription process and she got very excited, but I told her that probably I wouldn’t study at the UCAB because I couldn´t afford the tuition.

At that very moment this teacher told me about the university scholarship programs, she said that I could study there, it was possible, that I just had to wait for the pre registration results, and then I could apply for one of those scholarship programs.

A year full of changes

Nathaly got the Andres Bello Foundation full scholarship (this means the total exemption of any payment) over the five years that the mass communication program last.  Nevertheless, in her first semester Nathaly required a little bit more support from UCAB due to the 2010 disaster caused by torrential rains and flash floods in some areas of the capital region including, La Vega, where Nathaly lived. That was the reason behind the UCAB decision of supporting Nathalie’s case.

In December 2010 there were heavy torrential rains and a lot of houses in La Vega fell down, among those houses was my home. I was shocked by the situation. I was in my first semester barely learning about the college student life.

I found myself facing eviction from home and now I had to live in a shelter and I had no one to talk about it. My family and me had to live in that shelter until I finished my third year in the career.

During those three years the university felt like home. When my group of friends realized about my situation they supported me. I had a friend, whit I study frequently, that allowed me to stay in her home anytime I wanted.

I spent all the time that I could inside the university campus, I used to do several activities or study with my friends all day long; the UCAB became my home.

Despite her difficult situation, Nathaly always participated in volunteering activities and extracurricular activities.

Since the first moment at UCAB I wanted to be part of all kind of volunteering activities, but because the Mass Communication program didn’t have a volunteer program itself, I joined the Social Outreach department UCAB Volunteering program and also other programs. With the time I convinced my friends to participate, and they loved it so much that we decided to found the first volunteering program of our school: Volcos UCAB, Mass Communication Volunteering program.

Simultaneously I was practicing sports also at UCAB. I was part of the women’s rugby team for two years. Play rugby was so meaningful for me cause I learned so many relevant things, for my future life. It is an awesome sport.

Nathaly always has been focused on helping others. Every time she has the opportunity she tells young people her experience and all the opportunities that she got at UCAB.

This young Venezuelan woman has faith in working with kids, that is the reason behind her undergraduate thesis, which was about creating a radial training workshop for a Escuela Canaima group of kids.

Always will be important for people to know that there’s help out there, it is motivating. I made my thesis at the Escuela Canaima, it was a radial training workshop made by children, for children; I called it “Héroes Anónimos de La Vega”. I made this project with the collaboration of Mariana Vásquez y Ariana Colasante. Our project wins special academic honors.

Always giving more to the community

While Nathaly was waiting for her graduation ceremony she works for two semesters with Documental class professor Aurimar Alonso as a intern.

A little bit later the challenge of being a professor came. I always wanted to teach the Oral Communication class, because my professor, Yasmin Centeno, showed me the huge impact that this subject had in my life. But simultaneously I was also called to work in the Casting Department for the movie ´Lunes o martes, nunca domingo. I decided to work on the film and I asked my friend Mariana Vásquez to took my place at the class. The next semester I was able to teach the Filming class, and since that moment I went back to my other home, but this time as a professor.

Today, Nathaly, the professor, the Production Coordinator in the cinema department of Tres Cinematografía, the co founder of Haz Deporte, Juega Flag project, and the active collaborator for Lidera 9 program of the Futuro Presente Foundation, defines her Alma Mater like this:

 

 

UCAB represents a before and an after in my life. This is a place where a lot of things are possible and everything grows, mainly the knowledge that we acquire.

At the beginning is hard and that’s because everything is different, but if you persist you end up realizing that facing changes just nourishes you, allows you to know amazing people and places, and especially show you the different possibilities that you have.

The Universidad Catolica Andres Bello is a place where the change from an ordinary person to a model citizen can happen; where Venezuelan youth can transform in individuals ready to face any challenge in their lives, professionally and personally, is the place where to get -in five years- all the necessary tools to face the world successfully.

There is no doubt, go to UCAB and being part of it, is the best thing that ever happened to me.