Don’t Give Up When Life Gets Hard: On Disability, Dignity & Determination

This week on Entre Tías y Amiguis, Adri is joined by Dra. Terry Orozco to talk about navigating life with disability, identity, and legacy. Together, they explore what it means to hold space for your truth, ask for help, and become the support you once needed.

This one is for you if you’ve ever felt like giving up but kept going anyway, and if you’re learning to balance care for others with care for yourself.

In this heart-centered conversation, Adri is joined by Dra. Terry Orozco, academic coach, first-gen Latina, and unapologetic advocate for students navigating hard things, to talk about the quiet power of perseverance, grief, and becoming your own kind of helper.

From being underestimated and navigating ableism to earning a doctorate and launching her own business, Terry shares what it really looks like to move through guilt, grief, and burnout—and choose grace anyway.

This episode is for the ones who have carried invisible weight for years. The ones who never had a mentor like them growing up. The ones doing it their own way, even when the world doesn’t make room for them.

Together, we talk about:

• How Terry’s experience with SMA shaped her view of strength and dignity
• The power of helpers, chosen family, and breaking the rules to do the right thing
• Facing discrimination as a disabled Latina in education and the workplace
• Academic burnout, grief, and shame, and how she moved through it
• Why entrepreneurship offered the freedom to help people on her own terms

Closing Reflection

Terry reminds us that you don’t need to prove yourself to anyone but you.

That sometimes you’re not failing, you just need a nap, a pause, or a community.

And that healing means choosing softness, rest, and courage even when life gets hard. 🌿

This is for everyone learning how to be strong in a different way.

About Dra. Terry Orozco

Dra. Terry Orozco (she/her) is a first-gen Mexican-American academic coach, disability advocate, and the only person in her family with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA). A proud doctoral graduate, Terry now supports other Latinas navigating school, identity, and purpose. Her work centers on legacy, empathy, and showing up for others, on her own terms.

Follow Terry:

• Instagram – @terryorozco.psyd
• Website - https://terryorozcopsyd.com/

Tune in when you’re ready to release shame, reclaim your story, and remind yourself: you’re not done yet.