‘You can choose your stars’ — Officer Cardeña’s path from struggle to success

On Oct. 12, police officer Jesse Cardeña stood in front of a group of students, professors and counselors, preparing to tell his story — one he seldom told anyone.  

Cardeña spoke at an event titled “Life of a Latinx Leader,” which was held by a program that highlights influential Latinx individuals, celebrating their stories of struggle, survival and success.  

The police officer discussed how his poverty-filled past brought him to a prosperous present.  

“My goal is to try not to cry,” Cardeña said, a tissue clenched in his hands. “I can’t guarantee that because I don’t share my personal life very much, but I think this is a good thing to tell my story.” 

Cardeña began by talking about his mother, who raised him and his siblings single-handedly as an immigrant. He and his family grew up poor — living out of their family van, a mobile home with no utilities and a warehouse. 

“We lived in areas of high gang violence and drugs, and the reason we lived there was because it was affordable — because it was better than living in a van,” he said.  

His family would often get groceries and meals from churches and faith groups, Cardeña said.  

“I am so thankful and grateful for all religions out there, all faiths that are kind and compassionate, because whether it was a Christian church or a Catholic church, a Mormon church, Jewish — they helped us,” Cardeña said.  

He became an officer because police also helped him.  

“When I was a kid, we endured a lot of things. There was abuse in the house, and there was an officer that came and took us away from that,” Cardeña said. “It was the officer that really influenced me.” 

Cardeña said he has over 13 years of experience in law enforcement. He started in North Park, then served in the Cache County Sheriff’s Office, the Mantua Police Department, and now, the USU Police Department.  

He’s also worked as a member of SWAT, Sheriff Emergency Response Teams for the Cache County Jail, gang units, defensive tactic teams, high risk transport units and as a court bailiff. 

Cardeña said the USU Police Department’s care for the community was what drew him to apply.   

“It’s never been about wearing a badge or having a gun. That’s the big thing, that having a heart is valued here,” Cardeña said.  

According to USU Police Captain Kent Harris, Cardeña has been with the department for close to six months. However, Harris has known him for much longer — 20 years. 

When Cardeña started attending USU, they would talk often.  

“He and I have always had a great relationship,” Harris said.  

Then, Harris saw Cardeña’s application to an opening within the USU police department. 

“I was extremely excited because Jesse is the type of person that just fits what we want to do here at USU police to a T,” Harris said. “He wants (the students) to know that we’re here, that the police department is here, but that we’re here for service. He’s very service-oriented.”  

According to Harris, Cardeña translated an entire freshman orientation for the Spanish-speaking students.  

“The parents (of the students) talked with the organizers of that orientation and just said what a wonderful experience it was, that they were glad he was there to communicate with them,” Harris said.  

“He has not only a unique perspective on not only public safety, but university needs,” USU Police Chief Blair Barfuss said.  

Barfuss also mentioned how Cardeña’s experience as a father brings a greater understanding of the students’ needs.  

“Jesse is the kind of guy that will literally give you the shirt off his back because he’s been, at one point in his life, where he needed that,” Barfuss said.  

Cardeña has also made an impact on USU’s Latinx Cultural Center, according to Celina Wille, the center’s associate director. They met at a Cinco de Mayo community fair just after Cardeña moved to Utah.  

“We went from there to look at possibilities of building bridges (with) the police department,” Wille said. “We thought it would be informative for us to make this connection where students would be aware of what’s going on, so as to build that trusting relationship.” 

Wille said she wanted Cardeña to not only get to know and identify with the Latinx student population, but also to voice public safety’s mission.   

“To protect, to help the population, not to intimidate and punish,” she said.  

Pamela Arias Allcott, the Latinx Cultural Center program coordinator, noted how students feel safer with Cardeña in the police department.  

“I think the difference with him, with our Latinx community, is that he’s a part of us, and that makes our students a little more comfortable to go to him. Some students said, ‘He looks like us,’” Allcott said.  

Even as Cardeña has influenced the police department and Latinx community, he said he frequently had support to help him get to his current success.  

“I always say that I didn’t do it alone. I had friends and people that took interest in me. I’ve been influenced by great people,” Cardeña said.  

One of those great people is his wife.  

“I always say the biggest turning point in my life was 1998, when I met my wife,” Cardeña said. He said meeting her was both a funny story and a romantic one. 

While living in San Jose, California, Cardeña called to activate his phone and the voice on the other end was none other than his now wife, Sonia.  

“We hit it off as friends, and this was before Myspace, this was before Facebook or Snapchat, any of that social media — none of it existed at the time. But I fell in love with her accent, with her voice,” Cardeña said.  

They continued talking on the phone, becoming best friends. After he asked her to marry him, she asked him to move to Utah. 

“And I did. It’s the best decision I’ve ever made,” Cardeña said.  

It wasn’t easy for the Cardeña family. After they married, they immediately had a child — and Sonia was still getting her undergraduate degree. Cardeña worked multiple jobs, and Sonia said her mother was her babysitter — and then her mom got diagnosed with cancer.   

Life, Sonia said, was a day-by-day process. But both have continued forward with their education, careers and families.   

“My wife and I, we don’t give up on each other,” Cardeña said. 

Cardeña has two kids: one is a traveling member of the Air Force, and the other is a first-year student at the University of Utah. After his son leaves from South Korea to Japan, Cardeña plans on visiting him.  

According to Sonia, her husband helped push their kids to greater heights.  

“He will say, ‘You want to be a supervisor? Why not a manager?’ or ‘You want to do a 5K? Why not a 10K?’ He’s really pushed his kids to push themselves to do more,” Sonia said.  

Cardeña encouraged the students at the event to continue working and enduring, even if life presented challenges.  

“Just because you are born into adversity and struggles doesn’t determine what path you will take, or that your stars are already written,” Cardeña said. “You can choose to change your stars and be the navigator for your life.”

-Jenny.Carpenter@usu.edu

Featured photo from Utah State University