Honoring Sinthia: A Bright Light in Darkness

"A parent should never have to bury a child" is a saying that packs so much emotion and heart. A saying that is never taken as sarcasm , mistaken any other way, or taken lightly. Mainly because it's a saying that comes with pain and sorrow. We understand the saying now to its fullest. We lost our child from a long battle with anxiety and depression.

Our daughter Sinthia Jean Cardenas was someone who knew what she wanted. She was filled with life goals. Every goal she set, she made sure to set with the ability to succeed with never setting the bar low.

We are going to try to explain some of the things and we're sure she would be upset to leave some out but there's a lot.

In high school she was in Theater with lead roles, Show Choir Manager, Improv Troupe Captain, and Sergeant for the Honors String Orchestra, where she played violin. She also was actively involved in student government where she led a movement to give Latino students a greater voice in school affairs and was ASB Secretary.

Sinthia was attending UCLA as an Anthropology major with a minor in Education. She was scheduled to graduate June 14th 2025. She took so many college classes in high school that she was able to accomplish a Bachelor's in just two years. While at UCLA she worked weekends at The Moxi, The Wolf Museum of Exploration as an Exploration Educator and at the Santa Barbara History Museum as a Outdoor Education Coordinator. She loved working with kids at the museums. She was such a bright ball of energy and loved to see kids think by giving them problem solving skills to figure out facts instead just pawning off answers. The kiddos loved her.

Academically she thrived but if you had her as a friend you had someone that would start a war for you and win in excel fashion. Sin hated anyone being bullied, shamed, or hated on. Frankly, she hated assholes. She didn't understand why people would cause pain to someone who is just trying to find their way in life. She knew what emotional pain felt like from her battles with herself. She didn't want anyone to have to deal with that.

Sinthia was LOUD. You knew when she was coming from a mile away. She was a beam of light that would shine with her smile, singing, and somewhat of a maniacal laugh. She was the definition of a theater kid. Some would say the annoying kind of theater kid, but her great personality and caring heart trumped that annoyingness away. She knew the importance of bringing people joy.

There's so much more to say, but at this point it would just be proud parents bragging on her awesomeness.

Sinthia did have two sides to her. The happy warrior kid that would stop at nothing to protect her friends and the side that wanted nothing to do with anyone because she was exhausted from battling the constant war with herself. That side was only seen by a close few.

Sin suffered from anxiety and depression. Our ray of light would go dark.

Her latest battle she couldn't power through. Our baby took her own life.

We are setting up this GoFundMe to honor her life. We know strangers, loved ones and people impacted by Sinthia want to help in some way.

We believe contributing to the Play For Jade organization will be a great way to continue Sinthia's shine.