SOLEDAD — Steve Suarez, who grew up in Soledad, is sharing a message with area youths that they can aim for big careers even if they’ve faltered in their early schooling.
Suarez, 23, went from being a self-described failing, unmotivated student as he entered high school, to now applying to medical school to become a neurosurgeon.
“I want to inspire people that they can do it and that there is someone from their city who has gone the whole nine yards,” Suarez said. “I want to share my journey as I’m doing it.”
Suarez attended Monterey County Home Charter School to finish high school before graduating early from Hartnell College and moving onward to San Jose State University, then graduating from California State University Fresno with a master’s degree in public health. He recently spoke at the June 3 graduation for MCHCS at Sherwood Hall in Salinas.
In addition to bad grades, Suarez noted lack of examples might cause some students to give up on their journeys, and he would like to be that example.
“I’m a first-gen (student), and I don’t know many Hispanics that want to be doctors, especially not surgeons,” he said. “I’ve never met a Hispanic surgeon, personally.”
Part of what held Suarez back early on was a lack of teacher support and career guidance. Though he said he liked being at school more than being at home, there was no spark to persevere and overcome academic challenges.
“I was a mess. I was unorganized, unmotivated, and I was behind on credits,” Suarez said. “I was a traditional failing, unmotivated student.”
The shift in school environment was the catalyst Suarez said he needed, as going to the charter school placed him with teachers who would make sure he understood lessons.
“I had strangers believe in me, even when I didn’t believe in myself,” he said.
After gaining the inspiration to work toward his goals, Suarez said he set his sights on business. He credited his dad being an entrepreneur for motivating him to go toward business, and eventually earning a bachelor’s degree in business management.
While in San Jose, Suarez teamed up with engineers at Ideas Lab to design a parking app and eventually work with the city to solve parking issues around the campus. He said he would have continued in business with it being more profitable and involving less study and fewer years in school than medicine, but realized helping others through medicine was what mattered to him.
Suarez interned with Tulare County as a public health intern during the Covid-19 pandemic, working on vaccine clinics and testing sites where the team would deal with crowds as large as 1,000 in a day. He considered family medicine, but decided on neurosurgery when his father died in 2021.
For his father, Suarez said he wanted to keep going strong, and be the doctor patients could rely on when they walked through his doors. He raised his grades since his high school years and realized his journey could inspire others, which along with promising his father to become a doctor, help drive him in his endeavors.
Suarez is currently in the process of taking medical exams to kick-start the process of applying for schools. He had numerous schools in mind, but said Stanford was at the top of the list.
In addition to sharing his journey, he said his long-term goal would be to open a research lab in Salinas.
“Spend more time getting to know yourself than you spend getting to know others,” Saurez said as advice to youth. “Stick to what you love and don’t be afraid.”
