Heritage graduate's resolve to help others strengthened after father's murder

Oct. 29—In her job as a social worker, recent Heritage University graduate Paola Herrera is on the front lines of shaping the hearts and minds of kids.

"They're still so moldable and you could point them in the right direction," she said.

She recalled one girl who started asking her questions about her job as a social worker and expressed enthusiasm about entering the field herself. Herrera explained the steps she would need to take in school.

The 26-year-old Herrera takes the responsibility of representation seriously. She was a first-generation college student and grew up without having a professional she could look to for advice on navigating college and career. Now she hopes to be that person for today's youths.

"They don't get to meet a lot of people and actually have a sit-down conversation with somebody who went to school, graduated and got a career and let them know 'hey, you can do it too,'" she said.

In her own journey toward a professional career, Herrera graduated from Heritage with her bachelor's degree in social work in spring 2020. Because of the pandemic, she was not able to have a traditional commencement ceremony that spring. Instead, she had a small celebration with her family and husband.

Heritage University will have an unusual October commencement ceremony for its 2020 and 2021 graduates Saturday in Toppenish. Only graduates and staff may attend in person, but the ceremony will be broadcast for family and friends on television and at heritage.edu.

Herrera, who lives in the Tri-Cities, will not be attending Saturday's commencement ceremony, though she acknowledged the importance of celebrating college graduates, especially those who are first-generation students, who make up about 85% of Heritage's class.

Two jobs

Just a few months after graduation, Herrera has two jobs. She is a social worker in a pilot program for youths involved in the the juvenile justice system. She also works with families involved with Child Protective Services who have either had or are about to have their children removed from their home.

Herrera said her own experiences of having mental health struggles dismissed during her adolescence drew her to this line of work.

"I basically wanted to just help people and be the person that I didn't have growing up," she said.

She attended Columbia Basin College and later transferred to Heritage University's Tri-Cities location to pursue her bachelor's degree in social work.

Herrera's adviser, professor of social work Janet Watkins, described her as a "real go-getter."

Watkins recalled a time that Herrera successfully advocated for a higher grade for herself on a paper, a feat not many students achieve in her class. But Herrera's articulation of her points earned her the higher grade.

Since then, Watkins has watched Herrera continue to grow.

"I've seen her become more of an advocate for clients," Watkins said. "I've just seen her become a stronger, more confident woman really."

A guide for others

During her junior year, Herrera's father was murdered by a cartel in Mexico. In the days after her murder, when she took time off from school and flew down to attend the funeral, she considered her options: get angry, get drunk, lash out.

Instead, her resolve to help people only deepened.

"I can't take on a whole cartel," she said. "But you can try to fight battles one by one — by helping one by one here."

She described her father as having substance abuse and mental health struggles, and said he spent time incarcerated. She believes that if he had had someone looking out for him, things might not have ended the way they did.

"Now I get to be that person that hopefully can guide those people who are lost," she said.

Now settled into her jobs and expecting her first child, Herrera said she looks forward to the future of her career. She hopes to one day run her own practice and continue to work with at-risk kids, particularly those in the Latinx community.

As she continues in her work guiding others, Herrera reflected on what her father would say if he could see her now.

"First he would say I take myself too seriously. He was always joking around with me," she said. "But he'd be very proud, definitely very proud. I don't even think he could fathom the thought."

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