Young Human Trafficking Counselor Returns to Mid-Peninsula High School to Give Graduation Keynote

East Palo
Alto native Erica Wilson, who has found her life’s passion as a counselor at a
residential facility for human trafficking survivors, will be delivering the
keynote address at Mid-Peninsula High School graduation on Saturday, May 31, 4:40 p.m.

Wilson,
23, who graduated from the small, private high school in Menlo Park in 2009,
went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a minor in communication
and media studies from Dominican University in San Rafael. She is the first in
her family to graduate from college and plans to become a licensed social
worker to help others find their way through their darkest times.

“A lot of
my clients are from Oakland and San Francisco,” she said recently after a long
day of counseling activities in a San Francisco Bay area facility for adult women. Wilson’s responsibilities include helping residents to work on resumes

and handle the tasks of their new lives and inspiring them to find a new

passion for living.

“I’m
about giving them hope,” she says. “Telling them their life isn’t over and

getting them to realize what their reality is at the moment.”

Wilson
first fell in love with counseling at Mid-Peninsula High School where she helped out with
conflict resolution issues and supporting her peers who were going through
tough times at home.

“The
biggest thing I’ve learned is that you never know someone’s story so your

interaction should be positive,” Wilson said. “Everybody’s going through

something. If you can improve someone’s day by smiling, you should because you

don’t know what they have to go through.”

She hopes
to remind the new graduates of the importance of being themselves, following
their own paths and remembering self care. Time management was one of her
biggest challenges in college, she said, noting that she was involved in

student government and president of the Black Student Union, while also volunteering
at a suicide prevention hotline and working as an office assistant.

“After
they graduate it’s all about self discovery, finding their place in the world

and being comfortable with who they are,” she said.

She
currently volunteers as a college coach with the Foundation for a College

Education, an East Palo Alto community youth program promoting college.

Mid-Peninsula Graduation

Of the 43
graduating Mid-Peninsula seniors, 40 are attending college in the fall.

Fall destinations
include UC-Santa Cruz, Pratt Institute, Hampshire College, University of
Redlands, University of Puget Sound, Mills College, St. Mary’s College, Point
Loma Nazarene University, Landmark College and California state colleges in
Sonoma, San Francisco and Chico.

“Erica represents the way and the degree to which we empower students to take control of their education and their own lives,” said Head of School Douglas C. Thompson. “She developed that sense of herself while she was a student here and that enabled her to become a significant force.”

About Mid-Peninsula
High School

Mid-Peninsula High School has been
a community for learning since 1979, offering students a stimulating, nurturing
and safe environment that empowers them to reach their full academic and social
potential. With a current enrollment of 119, the campus provides a supportive
community for students to discover and map out their plans for higher education
and/or vocation. We work to strengthen the relationships between students,
families and the community. We are a nonprofit organization and raise funds to support financial aid and our overall operating budget. Thirty-four percent of our
students receive financial assistance.