Juan Juarez, 42, who was hired last December as a UNM-Taos academic advisor, is living a life he never dreamed possible. He’s eager to start helping current and prospective students get the most out of their lives — especially for young people who find themselves under the weight of questions such as, “What am I doing?” “Where am I going?” “Who do I want to be?” When it comes to exiting a dark, uncertain road and taking a positive, life-changing course, Juarez knows what he is talking about.
He was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. Though he grew up in Riverside, California. In true Golden State fashion, Juarez wanted to be a surfer when he was a little kid. Getting in a lot of trouble started for Juarez at age 16. After repeating four years of 9th grade, he gave up and dropped out. “I didn’t care about education. I didn’t think I could make a good life for myself,” he admits.
“When I was 24, I got fed up with the court system, being on probation … with the path in general. And I didn’t want to climb the gang hierarchy in prison,” he said. A new direction was on his mind.
One day he looked in a mirror — not metaphorically — and didn’t like what he saw. In a moment of clarity, he decided, “OK, let’s move” and moved to Taos to make a change.
Juarez laid low in his new home — wanting no trouble. His mother drove him to Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish where the High School Equivalency Program (HEP) was held. HEP was provided by Northern New Mexico College at that time. She dropped him off and drove away.
For two years, he worked hard and became close with instructor Frank Jaramillo — the father figure and mentor Juarez never had. “I could read and I could write, but Frank taught me more. He pushed me to be there and stay there until it was finally done,” he recalled. “I did it. I was in shock when I passed the math test. It gave me a sense of pride I never felt before.”
After passing the math test, he visited the advisor Miriam Foronda to tell her about getting his High School Equivalency. She congratulated him, but then started clacking at her computer keyboard. A few minutes later, she stopped, looked up and said, “You’re going to college.”
“I was shocked. I thought, oh man, I didn’t plan on doing any of this.” Foronda had enrolled him at UNM-Taos. “This is where it all began. I always had a good experience here,” Juarez said. “No one treated me bad. I always got the support I needed.”
Juarez, however, wasn’t done with school. He enrolled at UNM in Albuquerque where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Art Studio in December 2015. “I thought I might be an art instructor or work in a museum,” he said.
Juarez’s employment efforts kept leading him back to UNM-Taos because, “I always got the support I needed.” After applying for various campus jobs, he was hired by former Senior Project/Construction Manager Jim Pollard to help with a large campus inventory of products following the renovation of Río Grande Hall.
Juarez’s hard work had not gone unnoticed. Former IT Services Manager Dave Sooter and Nikki Maes, then-systems network analyst, trained Juarez to serve as IT tech support. “I proved my work ethic and pushed myself to be on top of my job at all times,” Juarez said.
While working in IT support, the thought crossed Juarez’s mind that his life experiences may be of value to young people who might feel lost like he did. He interviewed for a position as a UNM-Taos academic advisor. The rest is soon to be history.
Since December 2021, Juarez has been delving into the training process — just one more advisors’ training left to go in May. His days of helping students can’t start fast enough. “I’m really anxious to be where I need to be, to help the students,” he said.
There’s already a waiting list of young people he knows who want him to help them change their lives through higher education. “The entire advising department is very supportive,” he added. “I’m hoping I’ll start advising this summer.”
Juarez still pinches himself thinking of where he was headed in his teens and 20s and where he is today. He credits the birth of his first son for saving his life; “If not for his birth, I don’t know where I’d be now.”
His family has since grown. He and his fiancé have four kids — three boys and a girl. None of them will have to live without a strong, loving father figure. Juarez now knows who he truly is, what he needs to do to be successful, and is confident in his many abilities. And all of that, he kept repeating, is due to hard work and his positive experience at UNM-Taos.
“I love school. I love UNM-Taos. This will always be my foundation — my home.”
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