My height, at 5-foot-9-inches, and my brown cat-like eyes can come across as striking. My daily balancing act — maintaining mostly A’s and B’s in my classes at Cal State LA while juggling a job...

Societal burdens that have grown heavier through the pandemic have been carried on the backs of essential workers. I am one of those workers. Soon after COVID-19 began to make its way across the country,...

I’m a proud fronterizo — or border student. I was born and raised in Tijuana but often spent time in San Diego, where many of my family members live. I moved to California in my junior year of...

Every year, my family crowds around the kitchen island creating a big mess and getting masa stuck underneath our fingernails and I get the chance to ask my aunt questions about my roots. My family’s...

My best childhood memories include spending time with my parents and brother: playing in the snow and going on weekend hiking trips. That is why I took the news so hard. It was in the middle of winter...

My husband and I are planners. He’s an engineer and I’m a journalist. We analyze situations far before making a definitive decision. We decided that we wouldn't get married until we were sustainable....

I’ve never felt as carefree as I did when I was a kid. I loved getting the latest video games, watching Saturday morning cartoons with my sister, collecting Pokemon cards and even just finishing my...

When I was 9 years old, my mom dropped a bombshell on me. She told me that our family would be moving from Los Angeles County to Bakersfield. I had grown up with nephews, cousins, aunts and uncles...

Who knew that just three words could change your life?  It was February of 2014 and I was a sophomore in high school. My parents, brother and I had just finished eating dinner and we were all sitting...

“I live near USC.” For years, this was my standard response when someone asked where I lived. I had been conditioned to avoid naming my neighborhood: South Central Los Angeles. That’s because...

Oscar Hernandez, my dad, was a “corn man.” Street vending was his only job since he immigrated to the United States in February 2004. Every day, he’d wake up at 5 a.m. to get the best corn at...

To this day, Yamileth Esmeralda Ramos Zavala cannot eat burritos and the smell of chicken makes her gag. That’s because for one month and 10 days, during her 3,000-mile journey to the United States...