Maria-Elena Young is beginning her second year of the 2-year MCH program.  After receiving a B.A. in Spanish and Education at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania in 2004, she returned home to her native Oakland to pursue work in community health promotion.  Most recently she worked at Marin Abused Women's Services in San Rafael providing training and technical assistance to local leaders in faith and secular communities to develop collaborative domestic violence prevention efforts.  Prior to that, she was a health educator at Oakland's La Clinica de la Raza where she worked to prevent teen pregnancy, STD infection, and substance abuse through classroom education and peer education programs.  She is excited to begin the MCH program and pursue her interest in promoting adolescent health.  She has spent the summer exploring the back roads and trails of California on bicycle and on foot, including participating in a Sierra Club service trip.  She is looking forward to enjoying the natural beauty around the Berkeley campus.