A full slate of honors classes, positions with the Associated Student Body executive council, honors society and pep club, cheerleading and volunteering as a student mentor means a busy schedule for a high school senior.
So when Sunnyside’s Bianca Salgado suddenly needed to add more family responsibilities due to serious medical conditions for both of her parents, it almost felt like too much. But thanks to her determination and a strong support system, she maintained her 4.0 GPA and recorded a speech that aired online Friday night as one of her school’s eight valedictorians.
“My parents shaped me to be the person that I am today because they taught me that I could do anything that I set my mind to and I shouldn’t settle for this,” Salgado said. “Working in the field and all of that is not something that they would want me to do the rest of my life.”
Her father, Martin Salgado, continues to go to his agricultural job as an essential worker during the coronavirus pandemic. That seemed unlikely back in December, when illness nearly paralyzed Martin and doctors told him it would take a year to recover.
Unwilling to accept that answer, Martin went to Mexico seeking treatment, leaving Bianca to help care for her mother, sixth-grade sister, Giselle, and younger brother, Jonathan. The 9-year-old was born with holoprosencephaly — a disorder that keeps part of the brain from developing normally — and inspired Salgado to pursue a career in occupational therapy.
Fortunately, after almost two months away Martin returned much healthier, just in time to see his daughter’s Senior Night for cheerleaders in February. But before he returned, the family got more bad news. Doctors diagnosed her mother, Alma Salgado with severe anemia.
The disease, which leaves its victims tired and weak, eventually sent her to the hospital due to a lack of blood. She soon learned a tumor was “basically eating her blood alive,” Bianca said.
Successful surgery removed the tumor and put Alma on the road to recovery. Bianca credits Sunnyside assistant principal David Martinez for helping her stay focused at school while taking on additional responsibilities at home.
“He really believed in me,” said Salgado. “He pushed me to be valedictorian of my senior class even when the going was getting tough.”
Martinez met Salgado during her freshman year and said it was always clear she had the talent and work ethic needed to be successful. When she began to feel overwhelmed by a barrage of bad news, Martinez only needed to remind Salgado of what she could accomplish.
Through it all, Salgado provided strong leadership as the event coordinator for the Pep Club, secretary of Sunnyside’s ASB executive council and treasurer of the honors society. Martinez said she enjoys making others happy, whether that means joining fellow cheerleaders to support Special Olympics participants at the bowling alley every Saturday or assisting students with learning disabilities through Sunnyside’s LEC class.
“She’s always with a smile on her face,” Martinez said. “You could see how one could get discouraged with all the things she’s had. … She’s just a doer and that’s one of the neat things about Bianca is that she will get in and do and help.”
Salgado received scholarships from five schools and a number of other organizations, including one of the Yakima Rotary Club’s 34 Mollie Davis scholarships that will pay $30,000 in tuition over four years. She turned to Martinez and English teacher Dan Thomas often for college advice and decided to attend the University of Washington, where Martinez said she’s always wanted to study.
Both her parents immigrated from Mexico and Salgado speaks Spanish at home, often serving as an interpreter for her parents at the hospital and elsewhere. Much like her school spirit, Salgado’s heritage is an important part of her identity.
“I think that obviously she’s proud to be Latina and recognizing her roots and where she’s come from and that her parents have moved and sacrificed things so she can be successful,” Martinez said. “She’s humble and she’s recognized the things that people have done for her. Not any entitlement at all.”
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June 06, 2020 at 04:30PM
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Graduate stories: Bianca Salgado excelled during a difficult senior year in Sunnyside - Yakima Herald-Republic
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