This month I had the opportunity to meet and interview a brave, young Latino, named Yaleyska Medina. She is committed to addressing public health disparities in her community. Raised by two loving parents, she was born with a family on the strength of prayer. She is grounded and unafraid. She is motivated by her children and especially by her father who she considers her hero. It is said that energy is our most precious currency, and you may not interact with Yaleyska without absorbing her energy of strength.  A supernova is an exploding star. You can add in the parathesis “Yaleyska”. An overcomer, she has faced numerous social ills in her life (domestic violence, hunger, housing insecurity, depression, gender, racial bias), and survived – always applying the strength of a supernova. With her persistence, she uses her strength, surrounding and attacking the historical lack of health and medical trauma faced by Latino women. For Puerto Rican women, sovereignty over our bodies is like sovereignty over our land. We never had it! I felt like I knew her when we first met, and I was elated to learn that she worked at United Health Care.  I took that to mean she was empowered; I trust them to show up for my community whenever in need. Her curiosity about how I ended up a lawyer, public housing, and conducting a back-to-school drive (which she supports), I confided that I used to stand in line for food, backpacks, summer lunch, Christmas presents, whatever the social agencies or institutions were offering – not knowing the “who” or the “they.” All I knew was that we were in need. Before I could finish explaining, she immediately asked me, “so, now, what are you going to do about it? That is always the question. That’s when I began to see what Yaleyska wants to see in all women – motivation, inspiration, to show and demonstrate how we have unbreakable strength and energy.  We just must learn how to channel these elements; I see all those elements in her.  Physics says Force is equal to change in momentum (mass times velocity) over time. In other words, the rate of change is directly proportional to the amount of force applied. Yaleyska learned that a long time ago. THE INTERVIEW March is Women’s History Month, a time to recognize and celebrate our contributions.  Even though our #Latinaherstory community is across the state and beyond, we are going to celebrate together with an exercise: Pull out a calendar, each day write the things you like about yourself and make sure to always remind yourself, and draw from the strength of others.  Read the following interview, but make sure to take a deep breath, and say: “I am going to make it!” Where were you born and what were the values in your household?  My family is from Puerto Rico. We are a Pentecostal family. In my household, God was always first. My parents were strict. They taught me the importance of honesty, respect, kindness, and humility. We were humble, we lived in projects called Castillos. My parents were always willing to do everything in their power to survive. My father was a mechanic and knew the value of his work and the cars that he fixed.  As a single mother who is raising her children totally independent of anyone’s financial help, I look back on the sacrifices my parents made. One time, we needed food. My father was so resourceful that my father went to his car and took a car part out, so they could get food, you know? One of my father’s values that I’ve always taken- with me: is that no matter what you do, no matter what situation you are in, you don’t go out there stealing. You don’t go out there doing harm. Secondly, you know how to stay determined to survive. Even though I am alone in the parenting journey, one thing that I take from my family, from my parents is: that no matter how hard it is. You gave it your best and with God you are capable.  Don’t let anybody bring you down. Don’t let anybody discourage you, you have in your hands the power to do whatever your heart desires. Did you enjoy school? I did in part. It’s tricky because in Puerto Rico I enjoyed school. I enjoyed school as it was amazing because I was very smart. I was always outstanding. My grades were perfect. They did what is called the NASA project in Puerto Rico and they were picking from every single school. The two most outstanding in the whole entire school. I was one of the two picked. I was so proud. However, when I moved here, they placed me back in 12th grade where I had a complete, I think like six months’ worth of school to qualify for graduation. At that time school became a challenge because of the language barrier. You know it’s intimating. I was very smart but learning a whole new language is challenging. It’s a difficult challenge to assimilate into a school environment when you do not speak the instructional language. Still to this day, I think in Spanish, and I must translate in English when I speak to make sense. I feel like I’m always doing double the job because for me I think in two languages. At the same time, it’s amazing to be able to understand two different cultures and two different backgrounds. I am proud of my culture, but I also consider myself to have American grit because I overcame the challenge of moving to Buffalo with no fear whatsoever.  What was your first and was is your favorite job? At 17, My first job was at McDonald’s and then after that, I went into restaurants. However, to be quite honest and I’m being authentic. And I’m not saying this because I currently work with the company, but my best job is the one that