By Anna Pier
Political activist for economic equity, seventeen-year-old Dulce Soto will speak as Valedictorian of the Sonoma Valley High School Class of 2025 at their May 30 graduation. Anna Pier talks with the mature young woman, first in her family and extended family to go to college, who is headed for Stanford where she plans to major in Economics and Public Policy.
How did you become an activist? Four years ago, I was really shy, quiet. I was invited to a community healing event where I met Daniela Dominguez of University of San Francisco. She began to mentor me, and invited me to become an advocate for menstrual equity in the schools. This was when the Wellness Center had just opened at Sonoma High, and there was a complete overlap with my advocacy work. Then I did workshops in “DALE” (“dale” means “go for it” in Spanish) – Development, Advocacy, Leadership and Engagement – and in my sophomore year Daniela offered me a mentorship position.
I got a bigger perspective when I went as part of a student panel for Los Cien – the Santa Rosa-based county Latinx political organization. Herman G. Hernandez, son of the Los Cien founder, became my mentor, and offered me a job as lead youth intern. I learned lots of presentation skills. This got me out of my shell. I am really grateful for Herman and Daniela as my mentors.
Activities at the high school? I was involved with all the Latino clubs. I was president of MEChA, the national political action organization, and Dragones Latinx. We are 60 per cent Latino at the high school, but you don’t see much of our culture. Through the clubs we held lots of Mexican celebrations and cultural events. I wanted to make sure we were unignorable.
Tell me more about this. Sadly, you don’t see many Latinos in Honors classes, and even fewer in Advanced Placement. But Mock Trial, under Ms. Janet Hansen, was different. I think ten of the twenty students were Latinx. In sophomore year, in my Honors English class, I noticed that my culture was not represented on the syllabus. The closest thing were two books we rushed through at the end of the year: Dominican writer Julia Álvarez’ In the Time of the Butterflies and Black writer Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.
You were part of Mock Trial? Yes, last summer with my friend Alina Castro, we prepared for a national mock trial, Gladiator, in Atlanta. We had virtual coaches who were litigation attorneys, who helped us prepare for all the roles – the prosecuting attorney, the defense attorney, the defendant and the victim. Sadly, we were stuck at SFO for almost 24 hours due to a big IT failure, so we missed it.
This year, I was captain for our Sonoma High team. A freshman from our team won, and this was the first year Sonoma High won. I was so proud. Mock Trial, together with Los Cien, was magical for my public speaking skills. But I learned that law is not my thing.
Did you apply to lots of schools? I started to, but Stanford was my dream school. It’s very active politically and encourages a diversity of perspectives, which I find incredibly interesting. So when I was accepted Early Action in December, I didn’t apply anywhere else. Ever since I was little I wanted to go to a college where I could learn about what I saw as injustice around me. Economic inequity.
Are you nervous about going off to college? I will really miss my parents. I love them so much. I’m hoping to live in the Zapata dorm. I stayed there during admission week, and my parents got to be there too. It has wonderful murals. It was so nice to see my culture there. I had worried, “Would I see people who look like me?”
Tell me about your family. I’m an only child. My father is from Durango and my mother from Jalisco. They came to the Bay area in the ’80s. Hopefully this summer I will visit for the first time. At home we speak about 93 percent Spanish.
What was your dream as a little girl? I wanted to be an F.B.I. agent, or a police officer. To me, they stood for justice. I thought that way I could solve everyone’s problems.
Last thoughts? Yes, we can only create change through really uncomfortable conversations. This is something I learned through Los Cien, when I led panels of student conversations. The more upset people get, it means we’re talking about something substantial. I hope that in this divisive political climate, students, people, can come together to talk.
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