Susana Carolina León Montilla was a student at the School of Social Communication, Audiovisual mention (2010 – 2015) of the Andrés Bello Catholic University (UCAB), she graduated in March 2016. She is currently 25 years old and works at Epix, an artistic and social undertaking with the mission of connecting Venezuelans through the stories of each one.

At first my dream was to study at the Central University of Venezuela (UCV), but my grandmother, being a graduated in education from the Andrés Bello Catholic University (UCAB), always pushed me to the UCAB, and this, alongside destiny, made  this university my first choice.

Well, I did take the admission test at the UCV and I did not qualify in the career I wanted. Not only that, but a high school classmate had mentioned to me that by enrolling in the University Sector Planning Office (OPSU), I could not pre-register at a private university; and I believed her. Because of this I missed the enrollment period at UCAB which is the reason why I started the university a year later after graduation.  

That year, while I was waiting, my mom was diagnosed with cancer, so I helped her throughout that year. One month before the start of the first semester, the treatment was over.

I am still thankful to that classmate for giving me that wrong information, because no matter how hard the road was, it allowed me to meet wonderful people and live incredible experiences.

Susana was part of the theater group of the university, known as the UCAB Theater; she was also part of the founding team of social communication volunteering, Volcos UCAB. And was work for study in the Audiovisual Department in her last two years of the career.

In my fourth semester my mom was diagnosed with cancer again, and she had to stop working; although I had 50% financing, things were complicated economically. However, she ended the treatment well.

But by the beginning of my eighth semester, my mother was diagnosed again and things were very complicated, so I applied for a work for study grant, and I stayed at the Audiovisual Department as a community service assistant in charge of Deborah Herrera.

And thanks to that scholarship I was able to finish my studies, it gave me the perfect preparation to enter the working world, it gave me structure.

After completing her degree, Susana was a photography teacher at UCAB and is currently working at Epix, a place that has allowed her to grow more not only as a professional but as a person.

The beauty of Epix is ​​that it rescues the value of what people are doing in Venezuela and tries to connect them with the people who left. A year ago we made an exhibition of our stories in foreign establishments, and this represented a great success. Many people liked the idea; they always ask us for more stories.

At Epix we have interviewed many people, from the best known to those who are not, because each story adds up.

The UCAB provided many opportunities for Susana and she rescued what the university, her family and friends offered her to be who she is today.

Education is the basis of society. If we do not educate people, we cannot get out of this crisis.

The UCAB is a place full of light, which forms not only professionally but also personally, and we just have to support it to continue with its work.