Infant and Tots Survival Swim

Monika Valencia

My name is Monika Valencia.  I grew up in Ohio always dreaming of living somewhere warm because of my love of swimming.  After graduating high school, I became an American Red Cross volunteer with the United States Air Force training on the job as a dental assistant.  I then was so proud to be selected to enter the Dental Hygiene program at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio where I earned my bachelor’s degree in 2004.  I worked full time as a Dental Hygienist for 11 years until the birth of my first child.  After Hurricane Harvey  made landfall  my family moved to Corpus Christi to help the community rebuild.  I felt as though all my dreams were coming true! Making a difference in this devastated community while enjoying beautiful beaches and a house with a pool! I envisioned all the beautiful memories we could make in our future! But then I got a horrible sense of doom thinking of the dangers my pool presented to my very young children. I realized that my dream of having a pool could take away all of our joy and become our biggest nightmare.  I knew prevention would be my best option to protect my beloved children through training in infant survival swim.  I was definitely nervous as a parent watching her training but every lesson I could see her improving!  I absolutely loved my daughter’s new life saving skills and I was so impressed with the program that I had an epiphany for my own life’s purpose! I did my research on the different programs and chose the best- Survival Swim Development Network.  I completed my certification at the Texas Swim Academy by the master instructor Kathleen McMordie.

Having a family member lose a baby to drowning I can see that pain never goes away. I feel it is my calling and my personal mission to save even one family that pain then I will have fulfilled my purpose.  I am persistant, focused, committed, and determined to have a positive impact on my community and neighborhood through preventing childhood drowning.  Drowning is the leading cause of death in children aged 1-4 years.  Preventing childhood drowning is a cause bigger than myself worth fighting for.  This is my opportunity to step up to make a difference, to be a force for positive impact in preventing childhood drowning.