Here is a picture of my twin brothers, mom and myself. I am the one in the front. The people who I love the most in the world.

Hello, my name is Laura Escobar. I am 24 years and I was born and raised in Anaheim, California. This is my first semester at CSUDH! I am transfer student from Cypress Community College where I recently earned my Associates Degree in Psychology. As you might guess I am a Psychology major, I want to get into Clinical Psychology and have my own private practice. I don’t know about you all but I really have a passion for my major. I find human behavior so fascinating and a world still awaiting so much more to discover.

I consider myself a proud Chicana even though I technically am not “full blooded Mexican”. My mother is from Colima, Mexico and my father is from El Salvador. So I am have half Mexican and half Salvatrucha. However, in my household as a child my siblings and I were raised with primarily our mothers Mexican culture. My dad does not have a lot of family here in the United States besides my grandma and his two siblings. If anything they to have adapted to my moms Mexican culture as well. They only Salvadorean thing I can nail, is the bad words in a native Salvadorean accent.

I consider myself a very extroverted person. I am wine lover and dogs have my heart. I like to do my homework on Thursday and Friday nights so I can go out and party on Saturday night. School is my first priority and I like to squeeze in a bit of time for some fun. Work is also very important to me since it is what pays my bills and school. I work at a private after school program in Chino Hills. I work with kids k-12 grade and let me tell you it is not as easy as it may seem. When I am not out with friends I am most likely reading a novel of my interest. Family is the most important thing in my life. Family is the motor to my motivation and my will to be successful.

Hi everyone! My name is Bridgett and I am a sociology major. I just applied to graduate this coming May. I am also completing the Human Resource Management program here at CSUDH. I was born and raised in Norwalk, CA and I have 2 sisters. Lucky for me, I’ll be graduating with one of them in May! The gentleman in my picture is my boyfriend, which is always pushing me to be the best version of myself.  🙂

Hello everyone! My name is Laura and I am addicted to artificially flavored coffee. I love hockey. I love reading and watching amazing films over and over again. I like the feeling of bare feet against cold sheets. I crave new experiences. I am a senior at CSUDH majoring in Communications: Media Studies with a minor in Women’s Studies. I initially wanted to be a filmmaker but since CSUDH did not have a film program I decided to step out of my comfort zone and give the communications department a shot. I decided that although I would still love to make films in the future that I also want to write for Feminist Media Studies and conduct research. I am interested in writing about the role media plays in perpetuating rape culture. I have always been interested in taking a Chicano studies course and since its my senior year it was now or never (or until grad school) and this one in particular interested me.

Mad as a Hatter

Hello everyone! Let me introduce myself. My full name is Carol Xiomara Marroquin. I am a graduate student here at Cal State Dominguez Hills. I graduated in the Fall of 2013 as a Liberal Studies major. I, unfortunately, decided that teaching the kiddos was not for me, and so I came back to DH to pursue another career path. I stumbled about the Arts and Humanities: The City Master’s Program, and I have 2 more semesters to go. I still want to be an educator, and this program is allowing me to do so. I will hopefully teach at the community college or lower division level after I am done. I am taking this course as an elective at the moment.

Although at first glance I look Caucasian, I am indeed, Latina. My parents are both from Guatemala, and they both came to the United States while my mom was 2 months pregnant with me. Must have bumped my head many times during her journey here because I’ve been told by my mother that I tend to be a little quirky here and then.

I love all things Disney. My favorite color is blue. I love to have dance parties for one and I love having solo carpool karaoke sessions in my car. I am looking forward to what this class has to offer, and I am looking forward to reading everyone else’s bios. Have a good day!

Hello everyone I’m esmeralda. I have taken Chicano/a studies courses in the past and have found them very interesting. I am taking this one for personal growth. I want to note that although I am proud to consider myself a Chicana it has not always been easy for me. Like most of CSUDH students, it is a big sacrifice to be here with you today but I keep pushing myself as a form of personal resistance. I feel that just recently I have been able to find some clarity in life. Growing up my life was marked by stress of extremes and now I push myself to compromise and find self acceptance. One vivid memory I have of these extremes is in relation to my skin color. On my mother’s side of the family everyone is a fair skinned whereas my dad’s side of the family is quite tanned. Growing up my I had aunts from my mother’s side who constantly made distasteful comments about my dark complexion. As a child I had no idea how to process this, and wouldn’t dare disrespect my aunts and stand up for myself, so with time I became very ashamed about my dark skin. For many years I suffered from depression and avoided sun exposure at all costs. In the heat of summer I would wear long sleeve shirts and pants to “protect” my skin from the sun. I also tried as much as possible to stay indoors. It wasn’t until I saw a picture of myself that I was startled to see my yellowish complexion that I finally gave up! At that point I remember this incredible sense of frustration and disappointment. It was after many years of mental health services (I don’t want to give off the wrong impression that the color of my skin the only reason I suffered from depression, it was a combination of several issues) that I was finally able to come to terms with who I am and I am glad to say that I was finally able to speak up for myself and my children, now when or if my aunts make a distasteful comment about my complexion of the complexion of my children I rather rudely remind them that having white skin is not a talent and I affirm myself and my kids by saying that I love our darker complexion I let them know it is very beautiful. I even joke with them by asking: when you go buy a roasted chicken what would you rather get a pale chicken or a golden brown chicken?