Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Bianka Rodriguez. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Bianka, appreciate you joining us today. Can you tell us the backstory behind how you came up with the idea?
Growing up we didn’t have people that had jobs they loved, we had people that were surviving. Being in constant environments that required the survival mode from you at a young age allowed me to have years’ worth of stories. stories that were both good and bad. These stories, or memories per say used to dictate the way I walked around as a human on this earth. The stories of my past used to hold me captive; until I began my work with children. Working with kids opened my eyes to see that these bad experiences I’ve lived through were not for nothing. quite the opposite in fact. I was able to connect with the teens that completely changed my world. I found my purpose through trying to provide hope and faith to our next generations. with that, came the publication of my first self-published book of poems, Built Through Pain. which expanded the beautiful door of an even bigger opportunity to be able serve my community and the world around me through emotional transparency. Writing has allowed me to connect with even more people outside of the classroom pertaining to all thing’s mental health. I have become fascinated with ways to improve the mental health decline in our youth and young adults. There is much work to be done, however I believe if we emotionally and mentally prepare our youth, the fundamentals can be passed down to our children so they can take the reins when their turn comes.
Bianka, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
My name is Bianka Alicia Rodriguez, and I am a proud Chicana from Wilmington CA, I was raised part time LA, part time Delano, CA. I am an aspiring self-published mental health advocate and occasional activist. For the past few years, I have had the opportunity to work firsthand with children ranging from ages 6-18 in many different educational settings. The mental and behavioral issues I immediately seen were truly life changing for me. This was at the very beginning of our pandemic and unfortunately worsened throughout. witnessing the educational decline made me really feel for our youth and made me wonder why no one else was as concerned. I hold my experiences working with children thus far very close to my heart because no one really respects the fact that our children are who we will be relying on when we can no longer do for ourselves. I would hope we would all want to leave behind people who are here to better our world, not continue to taint it.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
The goal is to be able to one day facilitate a location where I can eventually give our youth and young adults mental and emotional solitude as well as support and recourses.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
I think the most rewarding part of advocating for mental health through my poetry and mission is seeing how we find common ground as humans. Every single soul on the planet has a story to tell, our lives all come with such different, messy and beautiful trials and tribulations. Unfortunately, many people, child or adult, do not handle life’s trials with grace, Including myself sometimes. However, through writing and being able to do Live readings of my poetry in my community, I have been able to connect to so many beautiful people who are simply going through the motions of life and trying their best. Not only that but who are also all feeling so many of the same emotions. It is extremely rewarding to be able to give someone a safe space to simply feel and be seen and heard.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://a.co/d/ieXigvR
- Instagram: Chulaquiles13