“Godzilla vs Kong.” I keep wanting to write “King Kong vs Godzilla” since that was the title of the original 1962 showdown between these two nasty heavyweights. A film that I actually owned on...

“Sweetheart, could you transfer me over to a guy? I’d like to speak to someone who knows what they’re talking about.” I had heard versions of that a number of times before working at the Guitar...

In some ways, Oct. 29, 2017, was a typical morning. I woke up early, showered and got ready for work. But something gnawed at me all morning and my anxiety only grew worse when my mom, Susan Raya, called...

I will never forget the night my dad returned from work to our home in Highland Park. It was March 18, 2020. COVID-19 had done little damage on the United States at that point, so I didn’t expect...

The past several months have been the most challenging of my entire life, by far. They have been the most rewarding for my work and school career, yet the worst for my mental well-being. The COVID-19...

I grew up in a small town in Hawaii in a household of seven: myself, my three older brothers, my parents, and my grandmother. Grandma was always home, and when she wasn’t, one of my parents was. And...

What started as one of the greatest years of my life, 2016, nearly broke me as a person. I was in my junior year of high school at Luskin Academy in South Central Los Angeles.  I remember receiving...

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...