{"id":11309,"date":"2019-05-24T16:36:55","date_gmt":"2019-05-24T16:36:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/?p=11309"},"modified":"2019-05-24T16:36:55","modified_gmt":"2019-05-24T16:36:55","slug":"xiomara-hinojo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/2019\/05\/24\/xiomara-hinojo\/","title":{"rendered":"XIOMARA HINOJO"},"content":{"rendered":"

Discovers her motivation to \u2018do better\u2019<\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

By Emilee Mae Struss<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"
Wood River High School senior Xiomara Hinojo is attending Brigham Young University next year and wants to be an orthodontist to help those who don\u2019t have access to quality healthcare. Photo credit: Xiomara Hinojo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

X<\/span>iomara Hinojo understands transition beyond her years. <\/span><\/p>\n

Hinojo is a Wood River High School senior who was born in Peru. She first visited the Wood River Valley when she was seven years old. When she turned nine, her family moved back to Peru and then returned once again when she was 15.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe two schools are so different,\u201d Hinojo said. \u201cOver there, they give us our classes and we have to wear uniforms. Here, we can make our own choices.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Hinojo\u2019s transition wasn\u2019t an easy one. Challenge number one: She had to learn English. She says her elementary school teacher, Edith Lopez, helped her immensely in that regard.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes I get frustrated because I feel like I can\u2019t say what I want to,\u201d Hinojo said. \u201cI just don\u2019t know how to say it in English.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

She refers to Wood River High School as her \u201csecond home,\u201d where the teachers are like her \u201csecond parents\u201d because they have been so helpful in guiding Hinojo through school. The lessons she had to learn were many, and not only in school subjects, but also in life choices.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy freshman year was rough,\u201d Hinojo said. \u201cI had a 1.7 grade point average and I was making bad choices.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Hinojo says she suddenly came to a realization, which transformed her 1.7 GPA as a freshman to a 3.5 GPA her junior year and a 3.7 GPA her senior year.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI realized this isn\u2019t what my parents worked so hard for,\u201d Hinojo said. \u201cThey worked hard to give me a better life and I knew I could do better.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Hinojo immersed herself in WRHS clubs and started taking more difficult courses. She joined the Business Professionals of America her junior year and qualified for state last year in the Basic Office and Procedures category. She joined the Health Occupations Students of America last year and joined W.A.T.E.R., a club about sustainable living, this year.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLast year, in W.A.T.E.R club, we hosted a fashion show with recycled items and that was a lot of fun,\u201d Hinojo said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She joined Key Club her junior year, which encourages leadership through volunteerism. Hinojo is the event coordinator this year. She also joined Bluebirds this year, which is a club promoting mental health awareness.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI really like Bluebirds because it\u2019s nice to know that others are willing to help me,\u201d Hinojo said. \u201cAnd I also understand that I can help others, too.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Besides joining five different WRHS clubs, and enrolling in three Advanced Placement courses to raise her GPA, Hinojo says what changed her life is prayer.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDuring the hardest times, I decided to pray to the Lord for my life and my family,\u201d Hinojo said. \u201cAnd the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has completely changed how I view life.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

She says her newfound faith is the thing that pushes her to defend what she thinks is right. She has seen how difficult life can be and believes that people should be treated with fairness and respect. Images of stories told by her mother about growing up in Peru have been the catalyst for Hinojo to decide on a career path.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy mother told me that my grandmother once had a swollen mouth because she had cavities and infections in her teeth,\u201d Hinojo said. \u201cThey had to ride an hour on a bus to a hospital, where there was no dentistry, and they told her she had to leave because they couldn\u2019t do anything.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Hinojo says that her grandmother returned on the same bus she came on with tears in her eyes from the intense pain. Because of this, Hinojo has decided she wants to be an orthodontist.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think about all of those people who don\u2019t have access to stop the pain,\u201d Hinojo said. \u201cAnd I want to help them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Hinojo is attending Brigham Young University in Rexburg next year.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter where exactly I end up,\u201d Hinojo said, \u201cas long as I\u2019m helping people.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s Note: Anyone who would like to recommend a Blaine County School District student for The Weekly Sun\u2019s \u201cStudent Spotlight\u201d feature should contact Emilee Struss at emilee.struss@gmail.com.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Discovers her motivation to \u2018do better\u2019 By Emilee Mae Struss Xiomara Hinojo understands transition beyond her years. Hinojo is a Wood River High School senior who was born in Peru. She first visited the Wood River Valley when she was seven years old. When she turned nine, her family moved back to Peru and then […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9332,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","_pvb_checkbox_block_on_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[38,41],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-11309","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sponsored","8":"category-student-spotlight"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11309"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11309\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9332"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}