Suanely Padilla: The Game Changer, Advocate, and Changemaker

Suanely is a game-changer, changemaker, and advocate. She has noticed that most schools do not give importance to mental health awareness, and mental health is something that affects everyone regardless of their age or background. Seeing that mental health is not general to a specific group of people and controls everyone’s day to day life, Suanely believes that schools and society as a whole should begin to not only introduce but also educate students thoroughly on mental health. When students find themself different from their peers, they generally do not know who to ask for help or receive support from. Through mental health awareness education, Suanely hopes to show students that it is alright to have different perspectives and have the foundational support that she lacked.

Additionally, Suanely is passionate about equality. She is fortunate enough to not face the intense degree of discrimination that other people of color do in America, but for her other brothers and sisters around the country, the same does not apply. It infuriates Suanely to see black children around America have to go through daunting lectures from their elders at such a young age regarding the burdens and chains attached to their origins. It pains her to see this specific community of people living in fear instead of a carefree life. She has grown to believe that the pigmentation of our skin should not have the power to cause the tears that it has. Now more than ever, Suanely says that we must all stand by the black community and other minority groups to combat these injustices and obtain a better tomorrow.

Recently, Suanely has created a mental health club, RUOK, at Fordham High School for the Arts due to her observation of her school community lacking liveliness because of the underlying effects of a poor mind. Within her club, Suanely incorporates educational power points that bring about awareness to different mental conditions.

Suanely does often feel like her words are silenced by the world. Suanely believes that “Women are already belittled in our society as it is, but when you take that and also blend it in with youth, you get an individual that isn’t taken seriously. Public figures, people of authority, and just the world, in general, don’t take the youth seriously because of our age. I believe in terms of mindset, age is just a number because I’ve seen teenagers my age carry more wisdom than a grown man who’s lived in this world for twice the amount that we have.” Her advice to other young females would be that you don’t need to be the most famous person to create change. You just need to have the determination to create a change.

You can contact Suanely on Instagram @suwavy and on Snapchat @january.6