Eloina Trujillo

Moved away many times as far as New York and places in between never felt "at home" so I ended up back in Salinas. I worked for Monterey County Children's Behavioral Health for twelve years. I was a social worker for three of those years working with transition age youth ages 16 - 25. I had it kind of rough growing up and really wanted to help provide support to kids who were struggling with life so that they could make it into adulthood feeling confident and finding their own success. I facilitated a girls group and co-facilitated a family therapy group at a youth detention facility. I thought I had found my passion in the mental health field.

However, the job was taking an emotional toll on me and the long hours and sometimes working Saturdays really took time away from my family so I decided to go back to school and become a teacher. Now, I am a candidate in a Master's Program in Education to pursue a long time dream of teaching in elementary school. I expect to graduate with my Masters in Summer 2010 and teach right here in Salinas, where I grew up. Between my family, work and school, I stay pretty busy.

High school is full of stories and memories that I will always cherish. The first memory that comes to mind when I think of North High is the first dance I attended as a freshman. I used to wear really thick glasses and decided to take them off so I could look prettier, but then lost my partner on the dance floor. What a dork! Thank goodness for contacts, which I got over the summer after freshman year. LOL.

I had some really cool friends at North High like Alma, Lupe, Ernesto, crazy Roxanne, Chris, and Bill. I had known many peers since elementary school and it's always nice when I run into them still.

Sohomore year, I got a job at CommSource Video on Laurel and worked their through the senior year. That was a lot of fun and I met my two best friends (Derek and Pablo) while working there except they went to Salinas High and also graduated 1988.