Hola!!!!! My name is Andy Guadalupe Zavala, and I like to introduce myself to my fellow classmates and professor. I am the youngest of six siblings, I grew up in the ghetto when my family first moved to the United states, because this was the only area where my parents could buy a house. We were the only Mexican family in a five block radius. The only people I had to count on for support or guidance was my family. I remember having to see my older brother fight off black teenage boys, just because the color of our skin was different.  We lived in this area for about five years, until our parents could see the house in order to buy a house in Lennox, California. Currently I live in Lennox, a community that is 95% Hispanic and the average yearly income is under 28,000 per year. Growing up in these two different communities helped me find a identity that helped me stand up for myself and work hard for what I strive to achieve. I have served five years in the United States Navy when I was younger, so I have traveled all of Asia and the Middle East.

I love sports and family, they kinda go hand and hand in my family. We are all sports fans!! I have a very close family , and I feel that this is one of the main reasons why I am persuing a degree from Loyola Marymount University. I like going to the beach and riding my bike. I love movies, horror movies are the best, but I tend to lean toward the classic when I speak of horror movies. I love going to concerts and tattoo festivals as well. currently I have seven tattoos but I’m working on getting my right arm sleeved up. I want it to be a celebration of thing I have learned to love and cherish. So I will have a Virgin de Guadalupe, Dia de los Muertos, Virgin de Carmen, and other traditional and non-traditional forms of Mexican art, and heritage on my body.

As you can see of the image I up load that I am a fan of the Dia de los Muertos art. That image is something that encompasses the next phase of my bildungsroman, because it’s the step in the process of me coming of age. The image holds a few important meanings behind them, first it my wedding invitation. Second the image to me show the process of life by, getting married once and dying beside the person you grew up together. Last the image on the forehead shows the values that my family passed down to me.

I have taken one Chicana/o studies class, and I fell in love with this subject. I just felt a pride in what I was learning and want to further my education in the Chicana/o subjects. As I stated earlier that I come from Lennox, CA. A community that year earnings are well below the countries average, and where educations seems to come second just behind providing for you family. So when I get my degree in Chicana/o studies I plan to go back to my community and try to inspire the community and the youth into achieve things they never saw or felt the could accomplish. This is a little about me and what I like to do with a degree in Chicana/o studies.