Career
Carmen Avdiu
As a ten-year-old immigrant, Carmen struggled in school without language assistance. Now she dedicates her life as a high school education counselor helping kids with learning disabilities, behavior issues, and who are cognitively delayed. Carmen is also working towards a yoga certificate to teach kids how to use yoga as a coping strategy. When she isn’t working, Carmen sponsors a young boy through Maestro Cares, a non-profit organization that benefits homeless and neglected children in developing Latin America countries. I Admire U Carmen for inspiring us to love each kid for who they are and for believing that every child can move mountains.
Celebrated by: Heather Horton
Celebrated by: Heather Horton
Carmen in her own words...
1. Your childhood included being a ten-year-old immigrant injected into a school without an ESL (English as Second Language) or bilingual program. How did this experience lead to your passion for working with kids?
I was thrown into the classroom and it was sink or sail. My first friend was a deaf girl so we were a perfect combo, she could not hear and I could not speak. I remember so clearly what it was like to be the new kid, from a different country in a classroom where no one spoke my language. And as I grew older I realized that kids were my passion. I wanted to help kids like me that were coming to this country clueless. I wanted to let them know that they would be okay. Everything would work out. I worked with kids with special needs from the time I was 16 and just fell in love with that population.
2. Working with kids with learning disabilities, behavior issues, and who are cognitively delayed must be a very rewarding, yet emotionally challenging career. What about your role keeps you going back every year? What about your work are you the most proud of?
Every single kid on my case load keeps me coming back, it’s about truly getting to know them, it’s about looking at each of them as individuals and finding out their story. I have to say that not one day at work is the same, just like the saying “never a dull day” is exactly what my job is like. I am always on the go, in meetings where I get to meet my students’ families, I get to travel outside of my school where I visit kids we placed in other schools, due to their needs, then when I’m back, I am walking the hallways, calling students down to my office…. I get to have some pretty cool conversations with adolescents. I sometimes have to pinch myself because I am getting paid to do what I love! Another huge component to why I love my job….my collegues, I have a pretty strong, smart, and witty group of co-workers that have essentially become my family! These women make me laugh so much at work….and that is really just the tip of the iceberg!
I am most proud of watching kids blossom into being young adults…..I sit with them as incoming 9th graders and at our last meeting four years later, I am hugging their family as if it was my own! Mom’s cry, I cry, sometimes the student cries...but most times they just sit there and laugh at all of us crying! LOL!! I get to see these kids graduate and go on to make something of themselves. These are bitter-sweet times, as I really get pretty close with my kids...you can usually find me ready with some tissues during graduation!
I was thrown into the classroom and it was sink or sail. My first friend was a deaf girl so we were a perfect combo, she could not hear and I could not speak. I remember so clearly what it was like to be the new kid, from a different country in a classroom where no one spoke my language. And as I grew older I realized that kids were my passion. I wanted to help kids like me that were coming to this country clueless. I wanted to let them know that they would be okay. Everything would work out. I worked with kids with special needs from the time I was 16 and just fell in love with that population.
2. Working with kids with learning disabilities, behavior issues, and who are cognitively delayed must be a very rewarding, yet emotionally challenging career. What about your role keeps you going back every year? What about your work are you the most proud of?
Every single kid on my case load keeps me coming back, it’s about truly getting to know them, it’s about looking at each of them as individuals and finding out their story. I have to say that not one day at work is the same, just like the saying “never a dull day” is exactly what my job is like. I am always on the go, in meetings where I get to meet my students’ families, I get to travel outside of my school where I visit kids we placed in other schools, due to their needs, then when I’m back, I am walking the hallways, calling students down to my office…. I get to have some pretty cool conversations with adolescents. I sometimes have to pinch myself because I am getting paid to do what I love! Another huge component to why I love my job….my collegues, I have a pretty strong, smart, and witty group of co-workers that have essentially become my family! These women make me laugh so much at work….and that is really just the tip of the iceberg!
I am most proud of watching kids blossom into being young adults…..I sit with them as incoming 9th graders and at our last meeting four years later, I am hugging their family as if it was my own! Mom’s cry, I cry, sometimes the student cries...but most times they just sit there and laugh at all of us crying! LOL!! I get to see these kids graduate and go on to make something of themselves. These are bitter-sweet times, as I really get pretty close with my kids...you can usually find me ready with some tissues during graduation!
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3. You shared, “Now days there is so much anxiety and depression, really pretty sad, but I am so glad that I have the opportunity to sit with them and talk them through some of these issues.” Why do you think anxiety and depression is so prevalent? As members of a community, how can we help?
I think kids are growing up extremely stimulated by electronics, social media, and the pressures of being perfect. We forget that its ok if our kids are not in 15 activities, and all AP classes, we forget that high school is supposed to be fun! Kids are growing up in a time, where I feel like they are getting pulled in so many different directions, they are asked to be great students, to play instruments, to work, to volunteer, to take a challenging rigor etc. Kids don’t know how to slow down, to take time to call someone instead of text, to write a letter instead of an email, to sit down with a relative and ask them about their own family….its just the little things in life that kids are missing now days.
As community members we just need to be cognicent of what these kids are dealing with, that essentially what these kids seek is very simple, they are seeking someone to stop and listen to them, spend time with them, love them and respect them.
4. Currently, you are working towards your yoga certificate. You shared, “I really want to incorporate yoga into what I do with adolescents, there is so much positive research other about the effects it can have in claiming the mind and the spirit.” What do you hope to achieve by introducing this new practice? How do you think this will impact your students?
I would love my students to be able to find the inner peace that lives within them, I would love for them to understand that yoga is much more then a physical pose, it has a strong correlation to how we feel emotionally and it can help change some of the negative emotions we experience through life. I would love for kids to have yoga as one of their coping strategies, to be able to use their pranayama (breath of life) to get them through difficult times in their lives….it’s a practice that can benefit them long after high school, and how amazing to be able to provide this for them!
"I have so many cool success stories; I had kids that were intellectually disabled, get hired, maintain a job and learn to become independent members of our society."
5. A part of your work is preparing your students for college or “realistic post-secondary plans.” What are some challenges you face? On this topic, what is your biggest success story?
In today’s educational system, I feel like our schools strongly focus on getting students “college ready,” however there are many students that won’t be college ready due to a learning disability, lack of motivation to go to college, emotional factors and just because of the cards life has dealt them. It’s important to give kids choices, to inform them about vocational jobs, and other paths to being independent one day.
I have so many cool success stories; I had kids that were intellectually disabled, get hired, maintain a job and learn to become independent members of our society. I have written letters to unions that have granted kids the opportunity to be part of a stable trade, I have students that are as we speak learning to become pilots, I have others come back in their Marines uniform...how lucky am I to be able to see these kids as Dr.Seuss says, “Move mountains”.
6. What nuggets of wisdom would you share with parents whose kids are showing signs of learning disabilities? What resources should they look into?
Love love love your kid because of who they are...they need to realize that every single one of them, have a gift...you just need to give it time! The internet can be a catch-22, once you start reading about different conditions, then you may be misguided by what you read. Put the electronic device down, take deep breaths, and of course consult the school and your doctor about your concerns, but most importantly realize that every single kid is different, and they develop differently, so just give them time. There are so many great resources that local schools provide for families. So if you seek them, you will find them!
7. Outside of your profession, you and your family are involved with an incredible foundation called Maestro Cares, which is a non-profit organization that benefits homeless and neglected children in developing Latin America countries. How are you and your family involved?
I became involved through the love and passion that I saw in my sister when she first met the kids. They were in a home that provided for them the best they could. Despite some of the dire conditions we saw these kids in, the places and circumstances they encountered were absolutely heart breaking. It has been through Maestro Cares a foundation initiated by March Anthony and Henry Cardenas (Henry is my sister’s boyfriend of twenty plus years) that have made it possible for this kids to live in the type of environment they deserve.
The first orphanage was built in La Romana, Dominican Republic. My father who is an amazing architect had the honor of designing and bringing this project to life. I sponsor a young boy that is 15 years old, we communicate at least a couple of times per week, he is a great athlete, and I am able to provide transportation for him to his sports after school. He recently got braces as well. It’s those things that the foundation can’t afford to do for every child, through sponsoring a kid, this can be done. My sister and mom also sponsor several kids.
Every December we go and visit them and spend as much time as possible with these beautiful kids!
8. How does your involvement with Maestro Cares influence your professional perspective? How does it impact you as a mom?
Being involved with these kids, learning about where they came from and what they went though is a very humbling and enriching experience, it makes one realize that one of your worst days, does not compare to what a little 3-year-old boy had to overcome. It’s an extremely grounding experience, it makes you realize that life is about breaking down the true essentials of why we are here, and I believe that in the end it is to love, to be loved. Professionally it has made me grow to realize that we sometimes get caught up in mundane tasks that at the end of the day are not going to impact us as we take our last breath.
As a mother, ever since my kids Julian and Adrian were born, I brought them to the orphanage. Every year we pack their gently used toys as well as buying socks, toothbrushes, toothpaste etc. and we bring it to the kids. My boys have a blast every time they are there. They just go off and play with the kids, and they feel right at home with them. I feel that they are privileged little boys to be able to get a chance to hug these kids and get to know them. These are the type of learning opportunities that I seek for my kids to have because these types of experiences will remain engraved with them for a life-time.
"I sponsor a young boy that is 15 years old, we communicate at least a couple of times per week, he is a great athlete, and I am able to provide transportation for him to his sports after school."
9. In May, you will be graduating with your yoga certificate. Woo hoo! After that, I’m curious, what’s next for you?
I want to be “that” yoga teacher that through this practice can help people find some ease. I want to be able to incorporate yoga into my profession. I would love to be able to give free yoga classes to moms that live in low income areas. I would love to be able to provide yoga classes to the teachers and staff that I work with and I would love for my kids to learn yoga this early in their life.
I love life. I love to travel and I absolutely love to laugh….I will be continuing to pursue all of those. Sometimes the beauty of life is that you don’t plan what’s next….you just stop and look around and follow the path you are meant to be.
10. I Admire U, who do you admire?
I have been blessed to be surrounded by an amazing group of women in my life. My 94-year-old grandma that has out lived two of her three children and despite losing them she maintains this vitality for life. She recently got her kitchen remodeled and could out shop anyone any time! My mom who had the courage to leave her career as a dentist in Colombia to leave her family and friends and come to the US with my sister and I, so that she could be with the man she loved. My sister who with her energy and her huge heart has captivated the Latino marketing industry, she was Crane’s 40 under 40, her work with the orphanage and her strength to always be there for her little sister (ME) and take care of everyone amazes me every day. Little Maria who was adopted by my step-father at the age of 15, was brought to the US from Colombia and has essentially dedicated her whole life to us. She has raised my step siblings, my sister and myself, she has helped raise their kids and I am the luckiest one of all because she has been my right hand when it has come to raising my kids. From the moment I gave birth to my boys she has been there. She is legally blind but that has mean absolutely nothing to her… she moves around the house like a champ and best of all the love that she has to give is something indescribable, and not to mention the love my kids feel toward her…...I’m speechless. I will be forever grateful, I love her and consider her another mom to me.
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