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Margarita Morales has lived in the United States for only eight years, yet has accomplished remarkable strides in that short time in her personal and professional life. Now only 33, Morales is the director of operations for the largest hospital in the Warm Springs Rehabilitation System. She became the youngest executive for the flagship facility at 29. This was no easy feat for someone who had come to America with a limited command of the English language.
"At age 26, my English probably wasn't much better than that of a first-grader," says Morales. "Not only did I have to overcome the language barrier, but I also had to learn a new culture and learn to be selfsufficient."
Her path to success and helping others began long before she came to this country. Born and raised in Colombia, she went on to college and became a dentist Then she went to work in Bogota's most underserved area, Ciudad Bolivar.
There, she recalls, "I endured the reality of my country, where entire towns were forced to...