Today we’d like to introduce you to Susie Estrada
Hi Susie, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I grew up in the San Fernando Valley in California and moved to Utah in 2014. I am the proud daughter of immigrants and grew up in a blended family and then a single-parent household. Growing up in the valley, I was privileged to have been exposed to people who helped to strengthen me and helped instill in me the value of understanding that empathy and persistence are key to being the best people we can be. I moved to Utah because I was accepted into my first masters program and my then fiancé had family that lived in Provo. Even after we got married and I completed my first master’s program, we just never left and I am happy to have been in Utah for now over a decade. My first professional jobs have always involved working with children and youth, I simultaneously worked at a fully inclusive early childhood program and with an out-of-school time provider in North Hollywood. I have since been in the public education setting in the classroom and as a coordinator of programs for English Learners, gang prevention, and intervention. I have also taught and directed in the preschool and out-of-school time profession.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It would be inauthentic of me not to share the struggles that have existed for me personally and professionally. I grew up in a home where cycles of trauma were repeated and if you are familiar with the Adverse Childhood Experiences scale, I am an eight out of ten. While having a high ACE score is not a life sentence, the impact of trauma has been on my physical health as I become more aware of how chronic stress impacted my body but also on my mental health. It has been challenging to remain invested and driven when large periods have been overshadowed by periods of depression and PTSD that had me questioning everything including myself. When you compile this with the challenges of also navigating a new culture and institutions like higher education as a first-generation student and as an outsider in what can sometimes feel like a homogenous culture, it can be lonely and tiresome. Life in general is also hard. I would be surprised if anyone said that their path has gone smoothly.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Professionally I currently work for the state but I also am involved in a lot of different groups. I think that what sets me aside is my willingness to be flexible and to be involved in community engagement. Community engagement and amplifying the voices of all of those in our state is the common thread across everything that I do and I think it is in my way of being. I love to hear stories and to be able to share them while also sharing my own. Life is not easy and there are some downsides to that with the mental and physical repercussions but there is a great privilege in having a perspective that helps you understand that there are a lot of gray areas in life and that ultimately things are bigger than ourselves- the goal is to have a community where everyone is safe and supported so that they can thrive. As part of even my volunteer work with the League of Women Voters of Salt Lake, everything relates to unifying our community and sharing our commonalities through stories, and that is what I love the most, I love talking to people, I have gotten on every report card since kindergarten “Talks too much,” but that is my superpower. That is what sets me apart. The ability to listen, reflect, and then apply what I have learned is what improves my work in all aspects of my life including even academically but also reenergizes me.
Do you any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
As I mentioned earlier, I have PTSD and I also really struggle with memory. A lot of my childhood and even adolescent memories are either blurry or not those that I can recall. What I can remember is either driving with my older cousin who was my favorite person as a kid but also my favorite memory goes back to a feeling of crisp air in California while walking the neighborhoods in North Hollywood with one of my best friends or laying on the carpet in the last apartment my mom and I had in North Hollywood while that same breeze came in, the sun hit, I could smell sunblock, and I could hear church bells ringing. For me that room is my heaven.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_susieestrada/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susieestrada/
