Hello! My name is Astrid Arellano and I’m a senior sociology major at LMU. I’m from what my friends and I like to call the real orange county: Santa Ana. I have lived there for most of my life and love it. For those of you who may not know, Santa Ana is a pretty large city in northern orange county comprised mostly of latinos. Going to a private catholic high school located smack dab in the middle of Santa Ana I would often hear my Caucasian friends talk about how afraid they were to go outside school grounds. “I don’t wanna get shot today” was a common concern amongst these foreigners to the city.
I never saw Santa Ana as a threat, but rather as an honor. Though still from time to time I grapple with my who I am, more Mexican or more American, I always look back to my roots for answers. Santa Ana being so full of culture and tradition is still after aIl a city in California. It is like me, a beautiful combination of two wonderful cultures.

I am very excited to learn more about fellow chicanas and Latinas in this class so that I can come to better understand my identity.

See you guys in class!