Although the school year has been challenging, Lendy Dominguez Sanchez has remained dedicated to her studies. Her perseverance was recently recognized when she won an Entrepreneurship for Integral Schools contest.
Born in Paso Real, Toabre, Lendy first heard about Forum Foundation thanks to her father’s friend from work. “My sister was starting tenth grade and I was in seventh grade. He gave us a pamphlet with information. I couldn’t help but read it myself. That is when I decided I wanted to join Forum Academy.
Lendy is currently finishing her last year at the Centro Educativo Bilingue Federico Zuniga Feliu in Penonome. She likes to study because she is interested in learning and knows that by engaging with many different subjects she can become a successful professional. “Besides this allows me to help solve various problems that affect the country, such as healthcare, but especially education.” Lendy is especially passionate about the natural sciences, “I am interested in finding out why things happen, how they arise and how they are related.” In addition, she also enjoys studying history and reading. Lendy even writes her own short stories.
“The help I have received from Forum Foundation has given us access to a great world of knowledge, books, great teachers, internet access, personal and social development. The scholarship has been the best opportunity to continue my studies without complications since I don’t have the resources to access quality education.”
Continuing her studies during the pandemic has been a great challenge, especially due to the lack of internet connectivity at home. “This prevented me from having a great performance during my eleventh-grade year, and not being able to interact with teachers in the classroom creates a gap, because we miss out on that special relationship between educator and students. A lot of the work we do is independent, and we have to investigate the content provided in order to be able to understand it. That is why it has been difficult to complete assignments in science since we cannot do the laboratory work. Sometimes we aren’t able to connect with teachers due to bad weather.
Evermore ambitious in her quest for knowledge, Lendy decided to participate in an Entrepreneurship for Integral Schools contest sponsored by Cobre Panama and the Foundation for Sustainable Development (FUDIS). The contest encouraged young people in the eleventh and twelfth grades to develop entrepreneurial and innovative ideas to be developed in the future. The students participated in nine workshops and activities that allowed them to develop their ideas drawing on their knowledge of STEM, science technology engineering, and mathematics. Lendy proposed creating a travel agency called “Family Tours”, that would offer the opportunity for families to get out of their daily routines, with economically accessible packages as well as accessibility to travel with pets and even with people with special needs. Using tourism as a tool to encourage people to move away from sedentary lifestyles.
In recognition of this proposal, Lendy was awarded a laptop computer to continue her studies. Not surprisingly, Lendy was also given a book entitled “Building Future STEM Entrepreneurs”, in recognition of her active participation in all of the workshops, asking and responding to questions, and successfully completing all of her assignments.
Graduation is just around the corner and Lendy is thinking about her future. “My first goal is to enroll in university to study medicine, I would like to be a doctor. What are you going to do when you graduate. I also want to be able to do something during the holiday break. I hope to be able to tutor students in Chemistry and Biology, these subjects inspire me a lot.”
Here is Lendy’s message to students who are thinking about their future, and what to do next.
Do not stop studying, the beautiful world of knowledge is so great and allows you to opt for the best opportunities, contribute to close gaps in our country, and as a young dreamer I say that we are not the future of the country, we are the present and the future of our country depends on our actions. Take advantage of every opportunity provided, and that every day you learn something more, and every day there are new opportunities, and that with patience, humility, motivation you can achieve your dreams.
Forum Foundation is committed to supporting inspiring young people like Lendy so that they can continue their learning journey and achieve their goals.