丹尼尔·威尔逊

2023年5月5日

For people who grow up experiencing trauma – whether physical or mental – learning to cope can be a long process.

对受创伤者的支持系统至关重要。

创建这样的系统对36岁的霍莉·雷尼·威尔逊（Holly Rennee Wilson）来说至关重要。 She will graduate summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree in Child and Adolescent Development and be honored with this year’s Dean’s Award from the College of Education. Deans’ Awards are given annually at Commencement to seven outstanding graduating students, one for each of 囊状态’s academic colleges.

“Honestly, it’s taken me so by surprise, and it’s been overwhelming, to say the least,” Wilson said. “I’m like, ‘there’s so many students here. I’m from a small town. There’s no way I’ll ever be seen here or noticed.’

“And I'm still worried, like, something bad is going to happen, (or) I'm not going to make it to the finish line. 这就是焦虑。”

Wilson’s struggles with anxiety and complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD) are a significant reason she pursued a career in psychological development and education.

威尔逊出生在莫德斯托，是三个孩子中最小的一个，在谷神星长大。 11岁时，她搬到了斯托克顿，一直住到22岁左右才回到莫德斯托。 Wilson’s mother and father were teen parents who did not attend college.

“(There are) a lot of people who might be in similar situations. 很容易从裂缝中溜走，因为你很难看到内心的伤痛有多严重，也很难看到内心或家里发生了什么。” -- Holly Rennee Wilson, Dean’s Award recipient for the College of Education

她的父母在威尔逊几个月大的时候离婚了。 她的母亲因滥用药物而进出戒毒所，她的父亲经常被关进监狱。 威尔逊得到了她的大家庭的支持，并断断续续地和她的祖父母住在一起。她的祖父母是一对非常虔诚的夫妇，他们严格遵守纪律。

“My childhood is weird because I (had) this balance between strict Christian values of Mormonism. But with my mom, or my stepdad, or whoever, it was just like chaos,” she said.

高中毕业后，威尔逊进入了德尔塔学院（Delta College），但由于无法承受自己所感受到的压力而辍学。 她在零售业工作了几年，后来成为一家连锁企业的主管。 威尔逊说，她在怀孕六个月时被解雇了。 在考虑下一步该做什么时，她再次依靠家人、朋友和国家资源。

She eventually found education work as a paraprofessional in intervention, ultimately choosing to return to college hoping to improve “some of the structural social injustices in the school systems” she had observed.

威尔逊毕业于莫德斯托初级学院，获得社会和行为科学、儿童发展、幼儿教育和心理学的副学士学位。 大流行期间，她转到萨克州立大学，并意识到她想与年轻人而不是儿童一起工作。

“Originally, I was trying to be a credentialed special (education) teacher, which I'm still interested in doing,” Wilson, recipient of several scholarships and awards, said. “But I was realizing I'm really interested in the social-emotional aspects of some of the work, and so that's kind of why I started exploring other fields.”

Wilson, who identifies as a cisgender pansexual, attends college while raising her son Levi with the help of her partner and fiancée Shannon Hess. 威尔逊继续在莫德斯托初级学院的LGBTQ+倡导组织工作。  

Following her mother’s suicide, Wilson, then 23, struggled with alcohol abuse and depression. She said her own “reckless behavior and self-destruction” led to a suicide attempt. 威尔逊现在已经戒酒五年了，她说这些经历让她渴望与青少年和年轻人一起工作。

“(There are) a lot of people who might be in similar situations,” said Wilson, who will be the first in her family to earn a bachelor’s degree. “很容易从裂缝中溜走，因为你很难看到内心的伤痛有多严重，也很难看到内心或家里发生了什么。”

教育学院院长萨沙·西多金（Sasha Sidorkin）说，威尔逊在她的一个儿童和青少年班为不同的年轻人创建了一个课后辅导项目。 西多金说，毕业后，威尔逊计划创建一个专注于艺术治疗的社区中心。

"Holly exemplifies the qualities we seek in our students,” Sidorkin said. “Throughout her time at 萨克拉门托 State, Holly has actively mentored students in the Inclusion Special Needs Practicum and showcased her interest in counseling children. (She) has consistently demonstrated her commitment to early intervention and inclusion.”

Wilson also has been accepted to a 囊状态 master’s program in Child and Adolescent Development.

“I am so excited to continue this journey at 囊状态, as this will be one step closer to teaching in higher education someday,” she said. “(Child Development) feels like home with my peers and professors, a place in education I belong, where I do the most healing as I seek to understand myself and others … (and work) to repair damage through alternative therapies to other trauma survivors.”