Confessions of a #JesuitEducated CEO
An Inside Look into a Millenial’s Vision of Courage
By Judith Martinez, Santa Clara University ‘14
Competence, Conscience and Compassion. As a recent graduate of Santa Clara University, these 3 Cs were the foundations of 4 awe-inspiring years for me. I had no idea those 4 years would lead to a 4th “C” that would change my life forever: Courage.
“The plan.” We all have one. Mine consisted of going straight into law school, taking the bar exam, and working for a prestigious firm in Silicon Valley. Then, once I was old enough, knew enough, was good enough, and after making enough money, I would finally do what I really wanted to do — create an impact through social enterprise. I took the “right” classes, knew the “right” people, and did the “right” activities to make sure “the plan” would work. It was perfect and it was everything I wanted. Or, at least, what I thought I wanted.
I was walking back to my apartment when I checked my mailbox and sure enough it was there. It was the big envelope. My heart sank. It was here. The next piece to my plan was in my hands and yet, my excitement for it wasn’t. Sometimes you don’t know what you truly want until what you think you want is right in front of you. What do you do when you realize the one thing you always wanted may not have been what you wanted all along? What do you do when you un-collapse the expectations of you from what you expect of yourself?
For me, graduating from Santa Clara was an opportunity to authentically answer for myself all these questions — and discover their answers. Fast forward four months later, I created InHerShoes: an organization committed to shifting the conversation of what it means to be a “successful” woman today, and creating a tipping point for female entrepreneurship. We stand for girls and women all over the world to answer for themselves, “What would you do if you were 1% more courageous?,” and provide the tangible resources to courageously step into their futures. Nearly a year later, we are on course to be in five new cities over the next five years to #CatalyzeCourage in communities all over the globe.
Surrounded by a community emphasizing “educating the whole person,” I experienced a freedom to discover and play inside of my passions at Santa Clara. I was a philosophy major with a pre-law emphasis, and minored in entrepreneurship and communications. I am not certain if I could have done that anywhere else. Looking back on my college experience, I realize being Jesuit educated does not end on graduation day. That’s actually when your Jesuit education truly begins.
Santa Clara emphasizes a holistic education that fosters the mind, body, and spirit. In my experience, my education did not take place inside of four walls, within any particular course, nor especially on a linear path. It happened as a living moment-by-moment phenomenon out in the world, in service of others. Inside of being Jesuit educated, what we choose to do and whom we choose to be in the world is not a matter of what we received from our education, but what we courageously give.
Judith Martinez graduated from Santa Clara University in 2014. She has worked with world-class leaders such as Leon Panetta, and has shared her voice on behalf of youth around the world with the United Nations Youth Assembly. She is committed to everyone powerfully creating a life they love, courageously open to the vision and fulfillment of their dreams. Find her with a white mocha in hand on the search for a corgi to call her own, or catch her at the upcoming InHerShoes #CatalyzeCourage Summit in San Francisco in 2016. Follow Judith and InHerShoes here on Medium.
