Scarlet Service Stories: Mirely Peralta
Mirely Peralta, SuitUp
Mirely Peralta knows first-hand how hard it can be for teens to navigate through life and figure out their future at 17 or 18 after high school.
“I had no idea what to do with myself,” Peralta said.
It took Peralta, who turned 30 in August, a few years to find her way to Rutgers-Newark last fall, but in that time, she gained enough life experience to know that she’s not in a race. The senior is studying public affairs and nonprofit administration and wants to eventually work with teenagers and young adults, “people in transitional phases of life,” as she described them, “because that’s when people need the most support.”
Her Scarlet Service internship at SuitUp paired her with that age group. The nonprofit partners with middle and high schools to help increase career readiness by connecting students with corporate leaders for the chance to compete and solve real-world business problems.
When she found out about the internship, she applied because she saw it as an opportunity to work with teens.
“It’s such a high-stakes time. We look at teenagers and ask them to solve their lives within the next four years,” she said. “I’ve personally experienced just how hard that is and how frustrating it can be to feel like you’re not really living up to your potential because you didn’t have the tools or have somebody sit down with you and say, ‘Hey, you don’t need to figure out your entire life, you just need to solve the next month and eventually you’ll figure out the next year and eventually you’ll figure out the next five years.’”
Before she was accepted into the Scarlet Service program, Peralta was already working part time at another nonprofit, GearUp, based at New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark, that helps middle and high school students prepare academically for college.
Peralta is considering pursuing a career in occupational therapy, with the goal to work at a nonprofit, mentoring and guiding adolescents.
“I want to be able to help them and tell them it’s OK not to have figured everything out,” she said. “If things go horribly wrong, you can come back from it. There’s always a way back from rock bottom.”