Merilyn Navarro Sanchez is a first-generation Oaxacan student double-majoring in Sociology and Ethnic Studies. Being born and raised in the County of San Diego to a mixed-status single-parent household, Merilyn has firsthand experience with the struggles and injustices of obtaining basic needs, having financial stability, and educational barriers. From her lived experiences, Merilyn has used her hardships to learn what can be improved in the communities she comes from through leadership and advocacy.
At her community college, she took on the role of Vice President for The PUENTE Project, where she and her executive board aided first-generation students to upward mobility with transfers to the UC or CSU system.
In the summer of 2025, Merilyn had the opportunity to be a labor union intern through UC Berkeley Labor Summer, where she was placed at TUWU (Trabajadores Unidos Workers United). TUWU's mission is to abolish workplace exploitation through organizing, political education, and direct action that shifts power to the working class.
Currently, Merilyn is in her sixth semester as a student mentor for NAVCAL, assisting non-traditional, historically marginalized students in navigating UC Berkeley through a peer-to-peer approach for a cohort of 4-5 students.
Through NAVCAL, Merilyn learned about the Public Service Center. She has been a student leader for two years, participating in College Corps and being a Break Leader for Alternative Breaks: San Diego - Immigration Rights. By teaching a DeCal, she prepares her students for an educational trip over Spring Break to aid immigrants in San Diego through Water Drops in the Desert and Day Laborer Outreach in partnership with Border Angels.
Major(s): Sociology, Ethnic Studies
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