Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jeidi Carrion-fajardo. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Jeidi, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

A huge part of my identity and who I am as a person is my sexual orientation as a Lesbian. I haven’t always gotten the privilege to say this as confidently and loudly as I do today. Growing up in a latino household, where the only reality I knew was a hetronormative one, in which I would eventually end up marrying a man and having a family like every Latina is expected to do. It was an extremeley upsetting light of the end of tunnel. Not only was this stripping me of my professional aspirations and dreams but also one where I got to be true to who I was and who I loved. As I grew up with this standard being drilled into me, I eventually conformed and attempted to engage in hetrosexual relationships that always felt very unfilling and empty. This led me down the road of heavy substance abuse and unhealthy relationships with those around me. Throughout highschool, I would abuse any substance that I could get my hands on just to attempt to feel whole again. It wasn’t until I left my hometown and got to really shake off the expectations from my closed minded community and step into the person I alway knew that I was.

As soon as I got to my college and moved away from the small town environment, I slowly but surely unapologetically embraced who I was. It felt refreshing to finally accept myself and share that piece of me that I always pushed down with the loved ones around me. I had failed to realize that the reason I was engaging in risky behaviors was because of the failure to truly see myself as I was. Once I was able to do this my entire life took a sharp left turn! I was able to put aside the substances that were weighing me down and channel all of the energy I was draining for the sake of conformity into really beautiful things! I decided to dedicate myself to my studies and make a difference in my community so that individuals like myself wouldn’t have to feel the same way that I once did.

I can now proudly say that I am the President of the Nursing Club, which is the most competitive major at my 4 year university, sit on the Board of Directors for my student government (the highest position that a student can hold on campus) to advocate for student around me, and also participate in advocacy in many other places on campus like our Housing and Dining services on campus. Outside of school I actively engage with my LGBTQIA+ community to help connect others to resources like the Trevor Project or even help share social events to help build community for those who feel alone like I once did. This might not seem like much but the more representation and positive interaction queer people have with one another, the more we begin to feel like we belong.

Although coming out of the closet might seem as simple as sharing a few sentences, it really saved my life. It is vital that we as a community continue supporting the LGBTQIA+ youth to foster community for such a vulnerable population. Today I am proud of all of the things I have accomplished with hard work but I am most proud to be queer and a part of such a rich community.

Jeidi, 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?

Although I initially had thought to pursue Nursing in a general sense, which I still think is one of the most rewarding and selfless professions to dedicate yourself to, in recent years looking introspectively have broadened my horizons for what felt right for me. I am still very passionate about health care and the good it can help bring communities but I feel that it is vital to give focus to the LGBTQIA+ youth population.

I would like to find a profession where I can merge my passions of helping vulnerable populations through healthcare and giving back to the community that has given so much to me. Since I am still young I want to keep my options open as much as possible to find that sweet spot and truly give it my all. Until then I will continue my journey as a medical professional as well as an advocate for my community. In my heart I know that I have a lot to offer my community with my craft, and the LGBTQIA+ youth are often overlooked and underserved in healthcare settings. I would love nothing more than to help mend that dire issue in our community.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

The shackles of heteronormativity are hard to shake but they are ones that I had to release myself from in order to survive. Growing up in the Latino culture, we are faced by often very homophobic and ruthless cultural norms in which LGBTQIA+ people simply do not fit into. In order to be accepted by your family, oftentimes latino children have to swallow their identity completely and conform to what they are being told to them, is the only way to live.

As you can imagine this is a debilitating reality for most and too often can cost the lives of such bright lights in the world. I found myself going down the same path subconsciously by drowning myself in substance and not caring about what came next. I constantly put myself in harm’s way. I did not realize it at the time but I was doing all of this because of the deep suppression of who I was.

It is a harsh reality to accept that you are risking the abandonment of your community for the sake of being yourself but it is one that we must internalize. In some cases you may lose the support of those whom you once might have held in high regards but NO ONE that will not blindly support you is worth keeping in your space.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Giving back to my community has always been something that has driven me through any and all hardships because of everything it has given me. Without community, I felt in the dark and alone. I was not able to see that there was another way of percieveing my reality and that other possibilities were out there! However once I fully stepped into queer spaces and found others who had felt like I did it was easier than ever to accept that my life could look really however I wanted it to look like. My community is my rock and I owe it them to help make our world a better place.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @jeidicarrionfajardo
• Linkedin: Jeidi Carrion Fajardo
• Other: Tik Tok

  @jeidipaola