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Articles 61 - 90 of 111
Full-Text Articles in Nonfiction
Espacios Alternativos, Alternate Spaces, Alexia F. Pineda
Espacios Alternativos, Alternate Spaces, Alexia F. Pineda
First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience
In this essay, Pineda demonstrates that by employing Chicana spirituality and drawing from the courage it can generate, first-generation college students can deepen their political leadership and artistic liberation.
Understanding School, Tiffany P. Ta
Understanding School, Tiffany P. Ta
First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience
As a first-generation college student in the Silicon Valley, author Tiffany Ta grew up in a high-achieving academic culture that she only really began to unpack and understand in college. Upon being exposed to more diverse cultures and backgrounds, Ta began to realize that her upbringing was vastly different than many others, and that some of her classmates' behaviors were unnatural. This poem reflects how she now feels about the experience looking back.
Did You?, Tiffany P. Ta
Did You?, Tiffany P. Ta
First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience
This poem is a reflection on first-generation college student Tiffany Ta's family heritage. The piece focuses on the author's grandmother, who Ta never really got to know.
Ice, Genesis Montalvo
Ice, Genesis Montalvo
First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience
Commonly known as ICE, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement works to monitor the level of illegal migration to the United States. They also are in charge of at least 40% of deportation of innocent, non-criminal immigration violators. At times, the children of these immigrants are born in the United States. As US citizens, ICE cannot deport them without violating their rights, resulting in the separation of families. This poem speaks of a young child whose mother was deported by ICE and the yearning of wanting to know where the mother is. The mix of English and Spanish reinforces the …
For The Dreamers, Mariajose Gomez
For The Dreamers, Mariajose Gomez
First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience
"For the Dreamers" reflects the author's experience on a De Colores immersion trip to Casa de Migrantes in Mexico, Tijuana. This was Gomez's first time traveling out of the country, and the experience helped her realize that no human being should be considered “illegal” simply because of man-made barriers. The piece exposes the complex social dynamics that inform the experiences of both immigrants and citizens of the United States. The purpose of the poem is to challenge readers' views on immigration and highlight the role social constructs and stereotypes play in establishing preconceived ideas about immigrants. The author hopes readers …
Sheep In A Grotto, Laken D. Brooks
Sheep In A Grotto, Laken D. Brooks
First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience
Many first-generation college students undergo feelings of inadequacy in what is known as "impostor syndrome." This piece of fiction is born from such feelings of identity confusion and formation. The story functions as a written snapshot of an otherwise normal teenager whose life is threatened by a sexual assault; she faces and overcomes trauma at the cusp of her coming of age. Brooks' tale incorporates a raw focus upon the protagonist's ability to persevere and thrive in the face of violence. Ultimately, this text transcends a single character's journey into womanhood to reflect a message of hope and growth.
I Am A Child, Arriona Randazzo
I Am A Child, Arriona Randazzo
First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience
TBD
Union Ave., Daniela Ramirez
Union Ave., Daniela Ramirez
First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience
The unpredictability of life is here seen through the eyes of a child. At the young age of 6, Daniela Ramirez narrates a day in her childhood home, found in the historic neighborhood in Central Los Angeles: Pico-Union. Ramirez’s narrative recounts the emotions and events that unfolded right before her eyes on the day that changed her and her family’s life forever on Union Ave.
Letters From A Cynical Romantic, Genesis Montalvo
Letters From A Cynical Romantic, Genesis Montalvo
First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience
With the romanticization of relationships in media and literature, it has become hard to distinguish fiction from reality—a fact Genesis Montalvo has realized the hard way. In a millennial world where “love” is just a swipe right away, she has found it hard to hold onto the old ideals of love and what partners are expected to contribute to a relationship. Using her own experiences with love, Montalvo explores the idea of the sentiment in the current age. Through the form of letters to her ex-boyfriends, she contrasts the expectations built by her parents’ relationship with the realities she now …
Forgive Me, Brenda Hernandez
Forgive Me, Brenda Hernandez
First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience
In this narrative, Brenda Hernandez explores the relationship with her alcoholic father as she tries to balance family relationships while being a first generation college student. She discusses the meaning of her father’s life and the impact he left on her.
The Beauty Within Us, Areli C. Hernandez
The Beauty Within Us, Areli C. Hernandez
First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience
This piece of prose, inspired by Chapter 23 of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, tells the story of a simple, yet vivacious get-together of migrant Latino workers, exploring the beauty within us--members of the migrant farm worker community.
Ruined For Life, Facundo Gonzalez Icardi
Ruined For Life, Facundo Gonzalez Icardi
First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience
As a first-generation college student from a low income family, Gonzalez Icardi never thought he would have the chance to travel outside his home country. This reflection expresses his deep gratitude for the opportunity to study at LMU, and his eagerness to take advantages of the services that the university provides. Gonzalez Icardi found his Ignacio Companions trip to be eye opening, expanding his awareness of how other cultures live; though heartbreaking at times, Gonzalez Icardi remains grateful for the experience.
Blogs And Feature Articles: Foster Youth In Higher Education, Superheroine Figures In Film, And More, Amanda Hayes, Jessica Langlois
Blogs And Feature Articles: Foster Youth In Higher Education, Superheroine Figures In Film, And More, Amanda Hayes, Jessica Langlois
Honors Thesis
Herein is my portfolio which exhibits my collective work in a journalism workshop class. This includes several blogs and feature articles that were completed within a semester. The blogs and articles mainly cover the topics of foster youth in higher education and a current issue/trend within film and television culture. As a current LMU Guardian Scholar, my interest lies in covering news and feature stories that highlight these Guardian Scholars Programs on other college campuses in the greater Los Angeles area and what various social support services they are providing to their students to help them combat the hurdles of …
Must Be An American Citizen, Guadalupe Astorga
Must Be An American Citizen, Guadalupe Astorga
First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience
Living in a limbo state is something many individuals have experienced throughout America’s history, and it is something author Guadalupe Astorga has lived through firsthand. Though she has worked to make Los Angeles her home since moving from Mexico as a young girl, Astorga struggles with the legal definition of “American,” which causes her to feel as though she is living a border existence with “little to no control over [her] future.” Through an exploration of collected memories, Astorga fights against the fear, impatience, and doubt over her “American” identity, but as she waits for an interview that will decide …
The Guide To Leadership: How The System’S Daughter Learned Strength, Maya Combs
The Guide To Leadership: How The System’S Daughter Learned Strength, Maya Combs
First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience
Maya Combs has found herself both implicitly and explicitly governed by the rules, regulations and expectations of what it means to be successful as an African-American woman and scholar. She uses the different forms of adversity she has experienced, along with the presence of the strong matriarchs who surround her, to articulate the importance of leadership and progress despite socioeconomic disadvantage and the inevitability of death.
La Gente No Nace, Se Hace, Angelica Diaz
La Gente No Nace, Se Hace, Angelica Diaz
First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience
In her narrative, author Angelica Diaz writes about her development as a daughter, sister, and aunt. Through the use of flashbacks to her childhood she relates the experiences that have brought her to where she is now—a student at Loyola Marymount University working to find her own place in the world and reflecting on her past experiences. By considering the life of her mother—her best friend—Diaz is able to realize her strength and her drive, and that her own place in her world is here and now, at the crossroad between the past and future, right where her faith has …
Pieces Of Me, Cynthia Garcia
Pieces Of Me, Cynthia Garcia
First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience
By describing the relationship with the most important people in her life, Cynthia Garcia connects the ways in which each individual has contributed to shaping her into the young woman she is today. As a first-generation college student, she struggles with pleasing her parents, accepting the unsuspecting financial sacrifices of her younger siblings, and the exploration of herself through a romantic relationship.
Too Much Of Everything And Not Enough, Guadalupe Mejia
Too Much Of Everything And Not Enough, Guadalupe Mejia
First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience
For author Guadalupe Mejia, the notion of identity as a multifaceted marker of one’s personhood created a sense of confusion and displacement within her. She struggled with a feeling of not belonging. Chronicling some of her experiences leading up to her college years, Mejia attempts to negotiate the ways in which her lived experiences, heritage and customs, and language and accent play a role in the person she strives to be and is expected to be. In the end, she comes to terms with her multicultural reality as a first-generation college student and first-generation U.S.-born American, but it isn’t easy.
Te Doy Gracias, Citlaly Orozco
Te Doy Gracias, Citlaly Orozco
First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience
Citlaly Orozco came into college as a quiet and shy person, obedient to all authority including her parents. This narrative reflects on the challenges, conflicts, and contradictions that Orozco has experienced with her mom, who she considers a close friend. Orozco shows how fear and guilt have shaped her college experience and interactions with her family; however, by being the strong, independent, and loving woman her mom taught her to be, Orozco comes to understand that she can be true to herself without feeling guilt. This realization helps Orozco to work through the challenges and moments of weakness to arrive …
Tenemos Que Trabajar, No Hay Otra, Rene Silva
Tenemos Que Trabajar, No Hay Otra, Rene Silva
First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience
Growing up, Rene Silva spent most of his time after school with his father. Despite this early connection, however, today father and son share few words. In the following narrative, Rene Silva delves into the nonexistent relationship he has with his father through the lenses of Latino culture and masculinity.
Epiphanies, La'tonya R. Rease-Miles
Epiphanies, La'tonya R. Rease-Miles
First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience
“When did you realize that you were a first-generation college student?” Through a collection of narratives in response to this question, Dr. Rease Miles shows how personal moments of first-gen awareness can lead students to affirm their individual strengths and values.
Bailamos Juntos: Salsa En Los E.E.U.U. Y El Mundo, Betty Tran
Bailamos Juntos: Salsa En Los E.E.U.U. Y El Mundo, Betty Tran
First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience
This composition traces the history of Cuban-American cultural identity formation through the lens of music and dance. As the author explains, Cuban immigrants cultivated a rich music and dance culture in New York City by creating a series of Latin and Afro-Cuban music genres and dances that brought diverse groups of people together. As a Vietnamese-American woman, Tran sees several connections between her family’s Vietnamese heritage and the cultural histories of Cubans who came to the United States as refugees seeking asylum from political oppression. As a first-generation college student, Tran believes it is important to share this composition as …
My Veil, Citlaly Orozco
My Veil, Citlaly Orozco
First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience
Many first-generation students go into college hoping to make their parents proud. Throughout their years at the university, however, students often become more connected to their college environments and concerned with finding their own voices. Family may continue to be an important foundation, but as students begin to learn, explore, and accept who they can be, they may grow distant from their families. In this personal philosophy, the author discusses how the process of discovery that takes place during the college years can sometimes challenge traditional family views, but, in the end, Orozco believes that strong family bonds will lead …
An Education, Priscilla T. Torres
An Education, Priscilla T. Torres
First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience
The first-generation college experience is one that is often a subtle realization. This piece examines the influence of the author's grandmother on her path to college and her understanding of what it means to be a first-generation college student. The author comes to the realization that a first-generation college education is not merely the student's own; it is that of her entire family and dates back generations.
A Tres Pasos De La Muerte, Samuel Temblador
A Tres Pasos De La Muerte, Samuel Temblador
First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience
"A Tres Pasos de la Muerte" tells the story of a son of Mexican immigrants and his search for his roots. Here, Temblador attempts to communicate a bicultural experience through the frame of border literature (Literatura Fronteriza) born out of the intersection between Mexican and American culture.
Applications For Dummies, Carla M. Sanchez
Applications For Dummies, Carla M. Sanchez
First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience
This poem discusses the overwhelming pressure that is put on students to justify their right to be admitted into universities or to receive scholarships based on their extracurricular activities. Many working-class, first-generation college students are unable to participate in organizations and programs that offer students a more well-rounded college experience. This can lead first-gen students, like the author, to feel isolated, inadequate, or illegitimate. "Applications for Dummies" expresses Sanchez's incessant fear that she will never be able to compete with other students who were given the opportunity to build more worldly resumes, despite her strong academic commitment and intellectual potential.
It's Not Just A Leave, Genesis L. Montalvo
It's Not Just A Leave, Genesis L. Montalvo
First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience
In this piece, the author sets out to explore the first-generation college identity through a gothic lens. In the early stages of this project, Montalvo had considered doing research on narratives from other first-gen college students as a way to trace the uncanny and the abject in their experiences. However, as she began reflecting on her own personal history, she realized that in a matter of only two years she had already experienced moments of distance, uncanniness, and confusion, which are recorded here. In presenting these installments in non-chronological order, Montalvo intends to insert a gothic element of disorder, which …
The Upside Of A Bottle, Mary Ludwig
The Upside Of A Bottle, Mary Ludwig
First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience
Small town girl in the city: In this narrative, Mary Ludwig discusses growing up in rural northern California, her struggles with her mother's alcoholism, and her incredible success as a first-generation student. She challenges her family's notions that she will have a "breakdown" and overcomes every obstacle that presents itself.
Flashlight, Min-Jung Kim
Flashlight, Min-Jung Kim
First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience
This poem illustrates the struggle of an undergraduate first-generation college student who knew little about the first-gen identity or the experiences she would encounter until she became a First To Go Scholar at Loyola Marymount University. The poet represents the First To Go Program as a flashlight that has helped her to navigate a once dark and unfamiliar environment.
Summer Days In The Library, Morika Fields
Summer Days In The Library, Morika Fields
First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience
This essay explores how the author became the reader and writer that she is today. Memories and stories make up the bulk of Fields' piece, along with some retrospective insights on her educational journey.