| You Can't Control The Wind But You Can Control Your Sail |
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| About Me |
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"Dr. Josefina Monasterio holds a Doctorate Degree in Adult Development from Nova University. That's a long way from Punta de Mata, Venezuela where she grew up penniless after her father abandoned the family. But, Josefina had a dream for herself, one that she nurtured and cultivated in her imagination and in her footwork. She took destiny by the horns and came to the United States on a scholarship without knowing a word of English. Now, as the host of Empowerment with Dr. Josefina, a local television show in Indian River County, Josefina empowers almost everyone she meets with her life coaching techniques. She helps her clients achieve their full potential using the methods she herself has proven effective. Adding to her amazing repertoire, Josefina has a collection of trophies for her victories at state and national body building competitions evidence that age is really just a number. This woman's energy and enthusiasm is contagious!" |
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| uch of Josefina's life can be summed up in this article written in The Tribune February 7, 1989. |
| There's no way to go but up, by Strelsa Schreiber |
| "Dare to dream, to reach for the stars" - so says Josefina Monasterio, newly employed academic advisor at Indian River Community College - and she did both. Born in Caracas, Venezuela, Josefina was raised by her mother and grandmother after her father deserted the family. Even as a child, she says, she looked around at her environment and decided she did not want what she saw to be her future |
| "We were poor," Josefina said, "there was no fortune for me to inherit, and I knew whatever wanted I would have to get for myself, and the best route lay through education." |
| She has to walk eight to ten miles to school, often had just a piece of bread for her lunch. The children wore uniforms to school, and Josefina had only one dress she could call her own. |
| "I had to work very hard, but I was lucky to have wonderful teachers who made such a difference in my life," she recalls. "I remember lying in the grass at night and watching the stars come out, and I dreamed. I saw my future, and I knew then that I could reach the stars." |
| SPORTS |
| Her talent in sports was recognized at an early age, and she became an excellent gymnast. She attended the University of Caracas, majoring in physical education, and taught for five years after graduation from college. |
| Her friends and mentors agreed that she should pursue her education and urged her to seek scholarships for study. Again, Josefina found the road difficult, her days often starting at 5 am in conferences with the Minister of Education. "Others wanted the scholarships too," she said, "and I had to prove myself." |
| When she won an award, she had a choice between Europe and the U.S. Friends urged her to select the U.S. "Go to Boston for the best in education," they told her, "and to California or Florida for the best weather." |
| BOSTON |
| Boston University was her choice for her master's degree in education, and she says she will always be grateful for her decision. "It was an opportunity to see another life," she said, "to learn another language, to be exposed to a different outlook, and to broaden my experience. Being around Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology was intellectually challenging, and there was more flexibility for creative thinking." |
| Josefina taught science, biology, Spanish, and health at Cambridge High School, serving also as a teacher advisor. There was a sizeable Spanish-speaking population in the Boston area, people who had come from Nicaragua, Santo Domingo and San Salvador. |
| She organized a nutrition and fitness club for teenagers and they worked out three mornings each week at 7am - even when the weather was zero or below. She also had a television program every Sunday morning that followed a news magazine format, and was broadcast in English and Spanish. Josefina reported on consumer affairs. |
| FLORIDA |
| This was her life until last November when she knew the time had come for her to move on. Three years ago she bought a home in Vero Beach, and during school breaks every eight weeks or so, she would fly south. While she loved practically everything about New England, the one exception was the climate, and she felt she could not tolerate the cold any longer. |
| Originally, Josefina had planned to take a year's leave and not work, but the Vero campus site for the community college was near her home, and when she saw the advertisement for the academic advisor, she applied, was hired and is now at the main campus. |
| Josefina finds advising college students quite different from trying to help high school teenagers. The older ones want to be helped she says, and she feels that with them she might make a difference. "Reaching teenagers is very difficult." She says, "because something in their homes or their home life seems to have affected their self-esteem, and they lack the courage to live life. They might love a thing, but not themselves, and they are afraid to dream. "While Josefina believes everyone has a divine destiny, she is content to let life unfold, helping it along by living each day to its fullest." |
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