Jess Valdez is only at the beginning of her journey in medicine, yet she has found motivation and grounding in her purpose by always remembering and honoring the people, communities, and experiences that have made her who she is today. In addition to being a medical student at UCSF and the daughter of Mexican immigrants, Jess embraces her identities as the compassionate sunshine friend and vulnerability queen. In this episode, we talk more about her windy journey into and through medicine and important topics such as pursuing a postbac program, reframing mental breakdowns as spiritual awakenings, and emphasizing why reproductive justice for womxn of color from immigrant and underserved communities matters. At the end of this episode (39:14), Jess shares a beautiful poem she wrote in response to the separation of families crisis among asylum-seeking families that continues to this day.

This will be the last Woke WOC Docs episode of 2018. Thank you for helping us achieve 1,000+ plays in a little over a month since the release of our trailer! We're deeply grateful and are wishing all of you a joyous, restful next few weeks. In the meantime, please e-mail and comment us with any feedback and suggestions. We would love to hear from you. See y'all in 2019!

Bio:

Jessica Valdez is a rising MS3 from Calabasas, CA. She attended the University of San Diego and graduated in 2013 with a degree in Biology. Since joining the PRIME-US program at UCSF, she has served as the Community Service Co-Chair for LMSA, joined White Coats for Black Lives, and helped organize the Mental Illness Among Us student-led panel. While Jessica is still unsure of a medical specialty, her interests focus on women’s health and reproductive justice, especially for women of color.