Edna Lorquet: Champions Hope and Representation

By Cesar A Reyes

At this year’s Vida Scholarship Luncheon, Edna Lorquet stood proudly among fellow awardees, a testament to resilience, diversity, and hope. A transgender woman from Chula Vista with a richly multicultural background, Edna embraces her identity as a bridge between worlds—African American, white, Latino, religiously diverse, and spiritually aware.

“I come from two families… my life is one of mixed cultures, from folklorico to vuduu, Christianity to Catholicism, to even eating foofoo or tortillas for dinner,” Edna shared. This deep well of cultural experience informs her mission: to become a psychiatrist or therapist who serves communities often overlooked or silenced.

Being selected as a VIDA Scholarship recipient was a humbling surprise. “I was not expecting to win,” she admitted. “There are hundreds of thousands of queer and underrepresented Latinos who honestly do seem better suited… Though now that I’m here, under the winner’s spotlight, I feel victorious.”

Edna’s victory represents more than personal achievement—it speaks to the power of representation. “Scholarships like VIDA… are so essential to society because of one key factor. Representation,” she emphasized. “This gives students a chance to uplift those who are like them, and bring their issues and concerns to be explained and demonstrated to the world.”

When asked to choose a word that captures the spirit of higher education, the WORD is HOPE, is what gives us motivation to follow our dreams… what inspires humanity to strive for change,” she said, citing the examples of Martin Luther King Jr. and Frida Kahlo as beacons of that very hope.

With her voice now amplified by VIDA, Edna Lorquet is determined not only to be heard—but to make sure others are, too.