Instructor Profile
"I came to this philosophy through a journey of my own. It was a difficult time for me and I needed to be able to predict what was coming next so I could prepare myself, learn, and survive." - Laurina Uribe
Meet Laurina Uribe, Instructor of The Hero's Journey - By Lynn Lothman
“Life has no meaning. Each of us has meaning and we bring it to life.”
-Joseph Campbell
Laurina Uribe brings a strong, positive, and assured voice to the faces of America’s multicultural minorities, especially the Latino population. She has spent a lifetime giving resonance to that voice. Now, semi-retired and living in North Carolina she has the time to share her insights and voice with those seeking meaning and mindfulness as they age.
Laurina will be teaching a class in the winter session entitled “The Hero’s Journey.” The class not only teaches the philosophy of Joseph Campbell but how to realize our own journey(s) in the context of the Hero’s Journey model. The last time she taught the class was the fall of 2013 and made a lasting life altering impact on many.
One previous student writes,
“I am an artist and have painted in acrylics for the past 35 years. I am also an avid OLLI student and recently took a class called “Hero’s Journey” with Laurina Uribe. It was designed to be a six-week class, but all of us were so impressed by the material and teacher that we asked and encouraged her to continue for the full semester, which she did. During the learning process of this class, my art took on a new dimension. I realized I was on a journey that had been calling for the last ten years: the course motivated me to pursue my dream, actualize it, trademark the idea, and copyright the design. I was moved by the teaching, the mentor/teacher, and my fellow classmates/heroes.”
According to philosophers Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud, humans have endeavored to explain the meaning of life since the beginning of it. According to Laurina, Joseph Campbell’s philosophy makes sense of it in the context of the world and the transcendence of time. She says, “My students get a better perspective of their life, dealing with change, and recognizing mentors and the roles of people in their lives. They learn to assess their own strengths and weaknesses and the accidental influences of others in their past, present, and future.”
Laurina grew up on the southwest side of Chicago during the chaotic and turbulent 1960s, the daughter of multicultural parents. Her mother was a Mexican-American who grew up in Denton, Texas, in migrant labor camps speaking exclusively Spanish and her father was born and raised in Grenada--his family working a sugarcane plantation. A background of discrimination and underestimation gives her voice legitimacy and credibility. In spite of the challenges, she and her three siblings became successful in their own right: a psychologist, an attorney, and a published author. Laurina attributes the academic success in part to her parent’s uncompromising values, constant inspiration, and enduring support.
As an undergraduate, she studied Sociology at the University of Illinois and went on to earn her Masters in Social Services Administration at the University of Chicago. Her career has been vast, varied, and visionary. It includes teaching and training, consulting and collaborating, Laurina’s work experience ranges from work with the State Department to Women’s Centers to City and State social service programs: facilitating, teaching, directing, fundraising, designing, and implementing strategic plans as well as initiating and developing policy. Now she directs an organization where she conducts workshops, classes, and retreats on the art of mindfulness utilizing the paradigm and principles of the resilience-based model of Campbell’s The Hero’s Journey.
I wondered how she came to believe so passionately about the Hero’s Journey. “I came to this philosophy through a journey of my own. It was a difficult time for me and I needed to be able to predict what was coming next so I could prepare myself, learn, and survive. ”
She attributes her desire to be a life-long learner to her parents. They are in their late 80s and still read vociferously, still thrive on ideas and remain very active with friends and the church. “I’m writing a book, a workbook entitled, The Mindful Hero’s Journey. It has three components, the understanding of the hero’s journey, mindfulness practice, and writing to heal.”
Her insights into mindfulness can provide value to anyone’s personal world regardless of age. We are a changing demographic, the world is smaller, and our meaning complex. To understand our role in it may be the most significant lesson we can all learn.
“People say that we are all seeking a meaning for life. I don’t think that is actually what we are really seeking. I think that what we are seeking is an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonances with our innermost being and reality, we that we actually feel the rapture of being alive.” –Joseph Campbell
-Joseph Campbell
Laurina Uribe brings a strong, positive, and assured voice to the faces of America’s multicultural minorities, especially the Latino population. She has spent a lifetime giving resonance to that voice. Now, semi-retired and living in North Carolina she has the time to share her insights and voice with those seeking meaning and mindfulness as they age.
Laurina will be teaching a class in the winter session entitled “The Hero’s Journey.” The class not only teaches the philosophy of Joseph Campbell but how to realize our own journey(s) in the context of the Hero’s Journey model. The last time she taught the class was the fall of 2013 and made a lasting life altering impact on many.
One previous student writes,
“I am an artist and have painted in acrylics for the past 35 years. I am also an avid OLLI student and recently took a class called “Hero’s Journey” with Laurina Uribe. It was designed to be a six-week class, but all of us were so impressed by the material and teacher that we asked and encouraged her to continue for the full semester, which she did. During the learning process of this class, my art took on a new dimension. I realized I was on a journey that had been calling for the last ten years: the course motivated me to pursue my dream, actualize it, trademark the idea, and copyright the design. I was moved by the teaching, the mentor/teacher, and my fellow classmates/heroes.”
According to philosophers Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud, humans have endeavored to explain the meaning of life since the beginning of it. According to Laurina, Joseph Campbell’s philosophy makes sense of it in the context of the world and the transcendence of time. She says, “My students get a better perspective of their life, dealing with change, and recognizing mentors and the roles of people in their lives. They learn to assess their own strengths and weaknesses and the accidental influences of others in their past, present, and future.”
Laurina grew up on the southwest side of Chicago during the chaotic and turbulent 1960s, the daughter of multicultural parents. Her mother was a Mexican-American who grew up in Denton, Texas, in migrant labor camps speaking exclusively Spanish and her father was born and raised in Grenada--his family working a sugarcane plantation. A background of discrimination and underestimation gives her voice legitimacy and credibility. In spite of the challenges, she and her three siblings became successful in their own right: a psychologist, an attorney, and a published author. Laurina attributes the academic success in part to her parent’s uncompromising values, constant inspiration, and enduring support.
As an undergraduate, she studied Sociology at the University of Illinois and went on to earn her Masters in Social Services Administration at the University of Chicago. Her career has been vast, varied, and visionary. It includes teaching and training, consulting and collaborating, Laurina’s work experience ranges from work with the State Department to Women’s Centers to City and State social service programs: facilitating, teaching, directing, fundraising, designing, and implementing strategic plans as well as initiating and developing policy. Now she directs an organization where she conducts workshops, classes, and retreats on the art of mindfulness utilizing the paradigm and principles of the resilience-based model of Campbell’s The Hero’s Journey.
I wondered how she came to believe so passionately about the Hero’s Journey. “I came to this philosophy through a journey of my own. It was a difficult time for me and I needed to be able to predict what was coming next so I could prepare myself, learn, and survive. ”
She attributes her desire to be a life-long learner to her parents. They are in their late 80s and still read vociferously, still thrive on ideas and remain very active with friends and the church. “I’m writing a book, a workbook entitled, The Mindful Hero’s Journey. It has three components, the understanding of the hero’s journey, mindfulness practice, and writing to heal.”
Her insights into mindfulness can provide value to anyone’s personal world regardless of age. We are a changing demographic, the world is smaller, and our meaning complex. To understand our role in it may be the most significant lesson we can all learn.
“People say that we are all seeking a meaning for life. I don’t think that is actually what we are really seeking. I think that what we are seeking is an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonances with our innermost being and reality, we that we actually feel the rapture of being alive.” –Joseph Campbell