SAN ANTONIO – Persistence, perseverance and passion describe today’s Great Graduate from Harlandale ISD, who is not letting anything slow her down.
Celestina Martinez is using her life experiences to motivate and help others.
“There were 17 bullet holes in my walls, and it was scary. It was really scary. We didn’t know what to do. It was like 3 a.m.,” Martinez said.
Meet Celestina Martinez – whose family home was shot at multiple times.
“Once again, 3:00 in the morning this time, 25. I was like, whoa. And I was actually awake, as happened at 3:00 in the morning. The first thing that happened was my son comes running out of the room, and we’re like, where is Celestina? Because she didn’t come out. And when we went into the room, we’re like, the first thing we saw were like those 17 holes in the wall,” Ernest Martinez, Celestina’s dad, said.
Celestina and her family moved out, but the fear never left.
“I had to just pretend like everything was okay, but it really wasn’t. And then I, I had a speech class, and through that, I was able to vocalize all of my issues and my struggles and get it out to other people to help them,” Celestina said.
Now Celestina gives motivational speeches to help others.
“A lot of them are about mental health and pushing forward. And I would say knowing your self-worth; for my first one, was it primarily focused on my experiences with the shootings and how I overcame them and how I didn’t let such a dark period of my life hold me down,” Martinez said.
Celestina is using her experience and voice to make a difference.
“Celestina is a very unique little girl that has the ability to overcome and adapt and know how to express herself,” Ernest Martinez said.
Next up, this great grad wants to help even more people!
“I want to pursue my BSN in nursing, so helping people is my passion, and I am also going to get married in August,” Celestina Martinez said.