Welcome to my homepage!
My full name is Maria “Nati” Sefchick del Paso. I am a counselor, author and story teller raised in Mexico City by a Mexican mother and an American father. My hometown is El Mineral del Chico in central Mexico, a 500-person town in the mountains and forest of Mexico’s first national park.
I majored in Communication and Philosophy, did a master’s in Human Development, and taught at a university in Pachuca, Hidalgo, for nine years where I also had a dance studio.
In 2001, I moved to the U.S. with my son, Jose, and daughter Pia, and two suitcases. My childetn overstayed their visa because I did have the salary to petition their residency. It took almost two years for them to become legal residents and then another five to become citizens.
I completed a second master’s in Counseling and Educational Psychology at the University of Nevada, Reno, where I worked at Truckee Meadows Community College for ten years in student services.
I moved to Washington State in 2012, worked at Central Washington University, Bellevue College, and was a counselor for 6 years at the University of Washington in Seattle in the Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity. During this time, I lived deep in the Snoqualmie forest with bears, elk and mountain lions in my backyard. I wrote about some say the Snoqualmie forest is haunted.
In the winter and spring of 2022, I moved to Mexico and researched gender violence and feminicide and how victims and families heal from trauma. There, I studied Indigenous Psychology and healing from Curanderas and a Mexican Shaman and teacher.
My husband Vito de la Cruz, who is Yaqui and Chicano, and our 3 dogs moved to Portland in Summer of 2022. In Fall 2022 I started as a full-time instructor in the Race Indigenous Nations and Gender studies cohort R.I.N.G. I teach College Success and Career Guidance and Ethnics Studies.
I am a published author of magic realism under Nati del Paso. You can find my collection of short stories Women of Fire and Snow in English and Spanish at PCC’s Library. Find out more about my writing and read a free story at natidelpaso.com
My educational approach is influenced by Paulo Freire and Critical Race theory, as well as Liberation and Indigenous Psychology. In class, we build an inclusive community of critical learners to solve real-world problems. I include mental health resiliency-building strategies and myth and story telling in all my classes.
I encourage students to be active participants by bringing their interests, experiences, and motivations into constructing knowledge to transform communities and the world.
Mi lengua materna es el español y me encanta platicar con otros que comparten la misma lengua. Encuentra mis cuentos y mi información en español aquí.
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