Dublin graduate Micah Suaste’s greatest source of inspiration is to be a voice for the voiceless. He’s taken this value through his career in criminal justice, and hopes to carry it on someday as a lawyer specializing in LGBTQ+ issues.
“It took me so long to be able to speak up for myself,” he said. “Growing up, I was always looking for somebody else to speak up for me, and right now, I’m speaking up for the little me.”
Suaste graduated from Dublin High School in 2016, and went on to work at Durham Pecan Company in Comanche. He spent his days packing pecans and candies, and worked his way up to a supervisor position. “I was a supervisor for three years, and then decided that was not what I wanted to do with my life,” he said.
Suaste applied to UT Tyler and was accepted to study criminal justice. After two years at UT Tyler he transferred to Texas A&M University, and graduated in 2021 with his bachelors. “I had always been drawn to law enforcement,” Suaste said. “I had a calling for that field.”
After college, he found a job as a pretrial investigator in juvenile probation cases. “I was looking for a rewarding job, and that popped up,” he said. “I wasn’t sure about it at first, but it’s something that I’ve really grown to love.”
Suaste approached the job with empathy. “I saw the kids there and what they were going through, and just how sad a lot of their situations are,” he said.
Later, he switched to working with adult probation and continues to work as a pretrial investigator for Smith County. “When I moved to adult probation, a lot of [the kids I used to work with] moved to adult probation at the same time,” he said. “I was able to kind of grow up with them and help them through things.”
As a pretrial investigator, Suaste works closely with judges and lawyers to make sure people on probation are abiding by the conditions set forth by the judge. He works directly with the people on probation, and finds it rewarding. “[My favorite part] is having a direct effect on people’s lives,” he said. “To really be able to see them as humans and not just criminals that we just want to send back to jail, but actually being able to speak truth and goodness into their lives.”
On the side, Suaste volunteers with the Children’s Advocacy Center of Greater West Texas, where he works as a court-appointed child advocate. Suaste has worked with the organization for more than three years now, and has helped with 16 different cases. The court system can be hard on kids, and Suaste and his fellow volunteers help them navigate the system.
“You’re sworn in, and basically what you do is work for the judge,” he said. “The judge will tell you, for example, ‘This kid’s been in and out of foster care.’ And we go meet with the family and meet with the kid, or maybe with a parent that is trying to get custody back. We’re pretty much the eyes for the judge outside of the courtroom, and we look out for the wellbeing of the child.”
While he enjoys his job right now, Suaste is currently applying to law school to further his career. “I want to become a lawyer,” he said. “I think I can do more than what I do now for the probationers.”
He hopes to attend law school at Texas A&M, and open his own law firm specializing in LGBTQ+ cases. “I want to help fight for them and the injustices they’re going through,” he said. “Being part of that community myself, I feel like there’s a lot of people that don’t have anybody to speak up for them. A lot of people are treated unfairly, especially in the workplace… I think there need to be more people that actually stand up for people like that and know the law and they can ensure that there are changes for everybody.”
Suaste’s dream of supporting the LGBTQ+ community in court comes from his own experience as a trans man. “My greatest challenge was learning to love myself regardless of what the outside world is telling you,” he said. “It was a challenge for a long time and a battle I thought I’d lose. But once I truly embraced who I was, life began to take a turn for the better.”
He looks forward to being the type of advocate he would have wanted when he was younger. “It’s important that everybody has somebody to look up to, somebody to speak up for them,” he said. “And you can always be that person for yourself.”
When Suaste is not working or volunteering, he enjoys fishing, playing tennis, and gardening. Suaste’s parents, Brookann Lopez and Rodrigo Juarez, moved away from Dublin to San Angelo. Suaste still lives in Tyler, and enjoys the East Texas environment. “It’s a nice part of Texas,” he said. “It’s beautiful, green.”
Suaste’s advice to Dublin graduates is to travel and try living in different places. “Go see a whole new world that’s out there, a different world,” he said. “It’s easy to be closeminded when you don’t leave home — get out there and go see how many different people there are and how many different things you can be involved in.”
Editor’s Note: This column chronicles what Dublin graduates have done since high school. If you have any suggestions for other grads, email publisher@ dublincitizen. com.