2023 -- H 6527

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2023

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H O U S E   R E S O L U T I O N

HONORING AND CONGRATULATING MARTA APARICIO ON HER

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

     Introduced By: Representatives Batista, Shekarchi, Blazejewski, Alzate, Felix,
Chippendale, Shanley, Giraldo, Voas, and Stewart

     Date Introduced: June 14, 2023

     Referred To: House read and passed

     WHEREAS, America is the land of opportunity, where lives and futures can change

direction at any time, and impossible dreams can and do come true. The life and accomplishments

of Ms. Marta Aparicio stand as testament to the validity of these beliefs; and

     WHEREAS, At the age of 11, Marta Aparicio arrived in Rhode Island from Guatemala

where she had lived in poverty. She did not speak English and did not have a secure family life.

For some people, these obstacles may well have limited their life’s ambitions, but this was not to

be the case; and

     WHEREAS, By the time Ms. Aparicio entered high school, she had mastered English and

was an excellent student, but her family life had fallen apart, forcing her to live on her own at the

age of seventeen, and in addition to going to school, she worked two jobs in order to survive; and

     WHEREAS, One of Marta’s Hope High School advisors along her journey told her that

“you can’t give up. Education is what opens doors.” Taking that advice to heart, Marta overcame

exhaustion, depression, and the lack of means or parents, and graduated as Valedictorian of the

Hope High School class of 2010, attained her Bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University in

Washington, D.C., and in 2018, was one of 30 from a pool of 600 candidates, to be selected for

the State Department's Charles B. Rangel Fellowship in international affairs at Columbia

University; and

     WHEREAS, Ms. Aparicio has faced labels like Latino, first generation, person of color,

and low income, but overcame, and her success hasn’t simply been a result of good fortune, but is

due instead to her intelligence and hard work, and most importantly, her amazing determination

to not give up, to not give in, to not fail; and

     WHEREAS, Today, Ms. Aparicio is a member of the U.S. Foreign Service, finishing a

two-year posting as a diplomat to Laos and will soon continue on her journey at the U.S.

Embassy in Honduras; and

     WHEREAS, Marta Aparicio has laid the foundation for a future that is unbounded with

promise and potential. Her determination in the face of adversity is inspirational, and she is

eminently deserving of our praise and recognition; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island hereby

congratulates and honors Marta Aparicio on her accomplishments and wishes her good health,

much happiness, and continued success in all her future endeavors; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Ms. Marta Aparicio.

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