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Raquel Ogletree

University of South Florida (USF) Criminology major Raquel Ogletree was raised by her mother in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. In her youth, she was inspired by her mother’s tireless efforts to provide for her children and admired her courage to move their family to Florida. Raquel has since found her own courage as an advocate for neglected and abused youth and seeks to become a child advocate attorney after graduating and attending law school.

Working to achieve her career goal, Raquel applied for the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship. In her essay, she proposed to study in Seoul, South Korea after researching sex trafficking cases in the United States (U.S.) and South Korea. Legislation to combat human trafficking is more comprehensive in South Korea, including stringent regulations on business employee records. Raquel became interested in sexual abuse policy, including human trafficking, after experiencing her own sexual assault as a teenager. The experience motivated her to choose a path that would allow her to empower young women and children who experience these crimes globally.

In spring of 2019, Raquel traveled to Seoul as a Gilman Scholarship recipient to attend EWHA Womans University, one of the most prestigious universities in South Korea. There, she studied how the Korean judicial system prosecutes sex trafficking offenses and joined the Little Chai Club, an organization which helps children from developing countries gain access to resources, such as clothing and counseling sessions. Through these experiences, she sought to identify effective ways to support child victims of sexual assault in the U.S., especially people with different cultural backgrounds than her own.

As a young Latina woman, Raquel was nervous before going to South Korea because she was unfamiliar with the culture. She discovered that people were welcoming and interested in her heritage, and some even wanted her to teach them the Spanish language. While in Seoul, she visited temples and wore a Korean dress called a honbok during events such as the Cherry Blossom Festival, a popular event in South Korea during which cherry blossoms bloom for only two weeks annually.

When Raquel was notified that she was a Gilman Scholarship recipient, she was emotional and felt confident knowing she overcame self-doubt and financial need to achieve her career goals. She learned to be proud of her heritage and experiences, using them as a catalyst for doing great things.

After being the first in her family to graduate college in May 2020, she plans to begin the paralegal certificate program at USF while working at a law firm in Tampa. “I now know that I am more than what I am on paper,” she says. “The Gilman Scholarship helped me see that I can do more than I thought I was capable of.”

Check out Raquel's vlog below!