“From zero public speaking experience to the commencement podium, serving on Student Senate changed the trajectory of Vidales’ life: I Found a Voice.”
“If you don’t speak up for what you want, it’s not going to happen. So you have to speak up for the things that you care about.”
When Vidales started at Gustavus, making her voice heard wasn’t something she was known for. But over her four years, shyness gave way to a confidence that made her Student Senate co-president, where she’s helped her classmates turn great ideas into visible change on campus. Compost bins in dorm rooms, gender-neutral housing in Co-Ed, and new Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion positions on Student Senate are just some of the initiatives in which she takes pride.
She also takes pride in starting a Gustavus chapter of Ignite, a national organization that fosters political leadership in young women. Her goal in founding a new chapter was to help Gustie women students, especially women of color, prepare for taking charge in the workplace and running for office.
Her path to involvement started with several student organizations, including A Moment of Magic, the Diversity Leadership Council, Organization of Latin American Students, Students for Reproductive Freedom, and Model United Nations. At a Model UN conference in Chicago she got her first taste of public speaking: “I was so scared, but I went up and spoke for 30 seconds. Afterward, I thought, ‘That wasn’t so bad!’”
Her sophomore year, Vidales became a class senator, where she learned to make her voice heard to faculty and administrators and to listen to her fellow Gusties. “They will come to you and hassle you until you listen. It’s our job to be receptive to them.”
The work hasn’t stopped since graduation, where Vidales delivered the commencement speech. She is now a Hennepin County associate organizer for Unidos MN, a political grassroots organization led by immigrants and centered around the Latinx community. She focuses on electoral work, Get Out the Vote, and immigration reform. They are causes she feels strongly about, and thanks to her time at Gustavus, she has the skills—and the fire— to keep making a difference. “If Gusties are passionate about something, they will make their voices heard.”