2012 Mattawa Distinguished Woman doing well at UW

2012 Mattawa Distinguished Young Woman Jessica Martinez explains the color run to table mates at breakfast. "There are checkpoints along the way where they splashed you with paint," she said.

by Royal Register Editor & Ted Escobar
| August 26, 2014 6:00 AM

MATTAWA - Folks around here should be happy to know that Jessica Martinez, Mattawa's 2012 Distinguished Young Woman, is happy at the University of Washington.

But she misses her home town.

"I grew up all my life in Mattawa. I love it. I miss the quiet," she said after completing the Comm"Unity" Days color run last Saturday.

Martinez went to the free breakfast in Hund Memorial Park to replenish her energy. Because the Mattawa DYW program sponsored the run, she proudly wore her DYW medal of 2012.

Though Martinez misses Mattawa, she has found lots to like about Seattle. She especially enjoys the diversity of the population.

"I've met a lot of different people," she said.

Martinez enjoys Seattle because there is plenty to do. Downtown Seattle was simply one big party after the Seahawks won the Super Bowl. She attended in her Seahawk wardrobe.

"It was nuts," she said. "I'd never seen so many people, 700,000 in one place. Everybody was wearing Seahawk gear. It was crazy."

The other Seattle team Martinez supported - in the stadium - last fall was the Washington Huskies football. She's looking forward this fall to the new Huskies of coach Chris Peterson, who replaced Steve Sarkisian when he moved on to USC.

"This (former Boise State) coach has a better record than the one who left," she said.

Martinez hasn't exactly plotted the course of her life, but it will likely involve a career in public medicine, which is her major. She's not sure if it will be rural in nature or urban.

For now, Martinez is straddling the line between city and country.