Becoming a Voice for others

In her junior year, Andrea Soliz, a student at Dysart High School, decided to run for SkillsUSA Region 5 President. “It was one of the hardest experiences I’ve ever had to do,” she exclaimed. No student had ever run for Region 5 President at her school, let alone won. “I didn’t have anyone to say, ‘hey you’ve done this before, can you help me?’” She had to go it alone. The process is rigorous, and includes interviews with the Board of Directors, essays, and a very intense speech. In fact, there are numerous rounds before even getting to the big speech part of it, where each student must address more than 1,000 of their fellow peers in Washington, D.C. When she finally did make it to the speech part, it was non-stop practicing. “Literally, when I would go on public transit, I would ask someone, ‘hey can I tell you my speech?’ And then I would do my speech for them.” When she finally got to the big moment, she attributes two sentences with solidifying her success and earning the title of Region 5 President. “As soon as I said those two sentences, light bulbs really clicked on around the room,” she said. Those two sentences are not just a part of a speech though. They define the past and future for Andrea, encapsulating her drive, determination, and success.

“I don’t want to be a voice at all,” she wrote. “What I want to do is listen to your voice and amplify the voice that you already have, because your voice is not less important than mine is.”

Andrea was originally born in Los Angeles near the Compton area. She was raised there until she was about six years old. “Living there, it wasn’t the greatest environment,” she shared. Once in Arizona, she attended Dysart Elementary School and Parkview Elementary School for her early education. Then she started to develop that sense of drive in 4th grade. She applied to the Cambridge Academy at Marley Park without even telling her mother. “My mother is my biggest support in the entire universe,” Andrea said. “She’s always been really supportive of everything. But she was never the person to push me, and say ‘hey you should join this thing.’”

When Andrea was at Marley Park, she was going through a lot of things at home because her parents were separating. She involved herself in extra-curricular activities, and did every sport on campus. She was also the student council president and a member of the band. She currently plays five instruments: piccolo, saxophone, piano, flute, and ukulele.

That involvement and creative outlet spilled over into her Freshman year at Dysart High School, where she created a documentary film. She went to Nogales to interview all perspectives, including border patrol, two humanitarian organizations, and a University of Arizona professor. “I tried to get perspective on the migrant crisis down there to make sure it wasn’t one-sided. We just need to educate ourselves about these issues that are happening around us.”

The next year she needed a new challenge, despite being in the top one-percent of her class. During sophomore year, Andrea created a workshop within the community that taught people about the history that you don’t learn in school. She called it, ‘Reclaiming History.’ “I wanted to create a different dynamic than what was in school,” she said. “So I teach them through ceramics, poetry, art, painting, music.” It became one of the biggest workshops that teens came into at the Surprise Youth Council.

She also started a workshop for the Surprise Youth Council called ‘Vent,’ which provides students a way to educate themselves on mental health. “I looked around and a lot of the teenagers in my classes are also just as stressed with school work and family life. I decided maybe it is time for us to figure out a way to find another safe space for students to talk about the things that they’re going through in a healthy manner.”

After achieving Region 5 President in her junior year, it’s on to the next thing and a look ahead to that next big step. For Andrea, that next one will be a first for her family. She would be the first one to go to college. But she doesn’t just want to go to college, she wants to go to an Ivy League college. As with everything in her life, why not set the bar as high as it will go? She wants to major in a field related to political science, with a career in policy-making.

It would surprise no one if Andrea found a way into government service. “I want to be able to lead people, and show them that leaders can have good intentions. Their lives are very important to me, and I’m going to figure out what is a way for me to do as much good as I can.”

A big influence in her life was her grandfather. He was a landscaper, and he was really big on volunteer work and serving people before himself. They were extremely close - he was like her dad. And that connection to someone who was so emphatic about servitude helped shape her political desires today. “Politics is so taboo and people don’t like talking about it, but if you just learn to listen to someone, when you learn how another person thinks, you get a little bit of understanding about their upbringing and perspectives or experiences. It’s important that we talk about some of those things. You think this way, and I think this way, and I just kind of want us to listen to different perspectives.”

Many times during her quest for state officer Andrea questioned what she was doing. But what brought her back was a simple thought, as fellow students asked her often how she even got involved in SkillsUSA. She thought, if she can do this, then other people in her community will think they can as well. “In failure there are so many things that you can learn,” said Andrea. “I’ve had a lot of failures. I’ve never been scared to fail. It’s just learning from every experience you have and never letting it get you down. Always keep on going. I know that sounds cheesy. There are so many things that I was so scared to do, and I didn’t feel like I was worthy of accomplishing [them]. But, you’re worthy if you have a good heart and you really care about doing right by others.”