'You Can Do It, Mija!'

But what began as a mentorship of five UNM-Taos students and six teens in 2023 is blossoming into something larger: a multigenerational support network of women, a safe space to discuss unhealthy relationships, and an outlet to explore career paths.

“It’s being able to know what’s important to you, to speak about it and to feel that you can actually take up space in this world and say how you think,” said Opal McCarthy, Mija program facilitator and outreach coordinator. “For me, I was a rebel teen, and I think part of the reason for that was because I wanted to have those skills of how to speak about what was important to me and connect to what was important to me.”

She added, “There’s a lot of things in our culture at-large that still discourage and maybe even more so recently, women and girls from being able to speak in those ways. I think our program is about cultivating courage and know there’s somebody who has your back.”

Today, the Mija program has two UNM-Taos students as mentors and work study facilitators: Gina Rubi-Bauch, who’s studying criminology, and Julia Cortopassi, who’s studying film, digital and media arts.

Rubi-Bauch and Cortopassi learn as much from mentees as mentees learn from them. Witnessing their excitement toward life always motivates Rubi-Bauch to continue showing up for them. 

“It’s interacting with the girls and seeing myself in them,” Rubi-Bauch said, “and remembering the emotions I used to feel when I was their age. How powerful it is to be supported by other women and how necessary it is. I wished I would’ve had that experience when I was their age.”

She added, “I think that a lot whenever we do mentoring sessions and how much I can learn from them. They’re my little teachers and they remind me to refresh my mind, so that I’m not too square or get resentful over the years as I grow into an older woman.”

Cortopassi, a yoga instructor since 2011, enjoys weaving in mindfulness techniques to her mentoring.

“ I like to offer them tools they can easily do on their own, seated at their desk or when they're taking a mini-break at school,” Cortopassi said. “We even worked on doing some yoga that you can do standing beside your desk or seated to try to make it really accessible.”

Aside from mentoring, the program hosts career workshops, community outings, yoga classes and crafts events. The program also invites guest speakers, be they dietitians or textile artists. McCarthy said they’re bringing on more mentors and launching smaller-scale versions of the program at high schools.

“Over the past year we’ve started doing programming in Taos High School,” McCarthy said. “We’ve been primarily focused on that this past program year. By the end of the school year, I think we’ll reach all freshman girls at Taos High School. That’s where Gina and Julie have been coming in and supporting some of the programming in Taos High School.”

On May 11, at UNM-Taos’ Padre Martinez Hall, the Mija program will host a spring celebration with brunch, live music and featured guest speaker, Town of Taos councillor Corilia Ortega. The event will run from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and is open to the public.

The Mija program aims to uplift women, but doesn’t shy away from deeper issues girls and young women face in Taos.

“Rape culture, especially in Taos,” Rubi-Bauch said. “I know that’s heavy of me to say, but it’s just the reality of what goes on. There’s a lot of roofying going around and emotional manipulation. It can be hard for them to focus on anything else when they’re trying to get validation and approval from guys who don't even understand the concept of respect.”

The Mija program has partnered with Community Against Violence to discuss ways to educate women about consent and healthy relationships. 

“They’re talking with each other about the issues that are affecting them, whether it’s trying to figure out relationships with friends or with boys,” said Alejandra Melendez, UNM-Taos director of strategic initiatives and research. “We’ve had some students that clearly are having a hard time at home. They don’t have safe spaces, so to our ability, we take that input and try to find things that we think can support them.”

Cortopassi added, “ Sometimes it can be pretty raw, and sometimes we just have a lot of fun. We love to do a lot of creative things with the girls. I really enjoy seeing them create unique expressions of themselves and feel empowered by the connection we're all building between each other.”

Despite these struggles, the Mija program will continue to try to live up to its namesake. Mija, meaning “daughter” in Spanish, is a term of endearment given to young girls.

“Anybody can be called ‘mija,’” Rubi-Bauch said. “I’ll call any cousin or younger girl ‘mija,’ but I think I’m not old enough yet to call other people ‘mija.’ I haven't earned that term yet. I could go to Mexico and hang out with my aunties there. If I call somebody a mija, they’d be like, ‘No, you’re not able to say that yet!’”

The women in the room laughed.