My little girl, sometimes it feels like I have 3 girls instead of one ;0)

Hello, my name is Arlene J. Martinez and I go by my middle name which is Jackie. I was born in Mexico and raised in the heart of Los Angeles. I am Chicana/o studies major, and I recently transfer from East Los Angeles College. I have two Associated Degrees from Los Angeles City College, one in Liberal Arts and the other one in Child Development. I have studied different subjects, like fashion design and marketing, theatre, journalism, child development and now Chicano/a Studies. I was a preschool teacher for many years; however, now I want to pursue my career as a school counselor or maybe as an elementary teacher.

I took a long break from school when I gave birth to my lovely 3 ½ year old baby girl Sofia, who has my Mexican blood and her dad’s Salvadorian blood “watch out”. She is my heart and my inspiration in life. While it has been a little bit hard to come back to school after spending most of my time with her, it will be okay once I adjust again to the whole school routine. She is also starting school this year oh my “que nervios”. I had once thought about giving up school, but my best friend who is also my younger sister, Odeth encouraged me to continue. She has been my motivator, while she is supposed to look up to me, instead I look up to her. I admired her “ganas” to finished school and I am going to do the same. No one is going to tell me that I’m too old to be in school or that studying Chicano/a Studies is worthless; trust me I hear this often, but I am not listening. I will continue planning my future graduation from csudh and my wedding, yes I just got engaged too.