Yesenia Garcia was born and raised in McAllen, Texas. Named after the title character of a 1970s Mexican Telenovela (Yesenia) it’s no wonder she’s chosen to act…or did it chose her?!
Growing up in the Rio Grande Valley as the daughter to two teachers, education, not entertainment, was always the priority. Books were always an available resource and with a vivid imagination, they became full productions in the hallway of the Garcia home.
In 1998, Yesenia fulfilled her beauty pageant destiny, not by winning the crown for the Miss Teen of Texas Scholarship & Recognition Pageant, but by winning the talent show portion of the competition. Armed with nothing more than a monologue, an acapella song and a pretty convincing French dialect, she beat out some of the best singers, dancers and baton twirlers in Texas for the Talent Show Winner title.
Although basking in the glory of beauty-pageant-talent-show-winner-fame was wonderful, she knew life had more to offer. Going back to her roots in education, she sought the knowledge that only higher education could give her.
In 2003, she received her BA in Theatre and Communications from Southwestern University and in 2007 she received her MFA in Acting from The University of Texas at Austin (Rated Top 10 in Graduate Schools for Theatre in the Nation--Newsweek).
While pursuing her MFA, she had the opportunity to perform and teach internationally as a participant in the 2005 Promising Performing Artists of the 21st Century Program in San Jose, Costa Rica. She was also a scholarship recipient of the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts (NHFA) three years in a row.
As she continues to hone her craft, Yesenia anticipates an extensive and influential acting career on both stage and film and looks to inspire young women and the Latino community to pursue their dreams and aspirations through education and sheer drive the way her parents inspired her.
