2020 Ojeda, Joel

Hello my name is Joel Ojeda, I was born and raised in National City San Diego, people call it “nasty city” because of the heavy crime and gang presence but to me it's home and I wouldn't trade it for anything, the culture is vibrant and everyone knows each other. National City is one of the smallest cities in San Diego with one high school and 2 middle schools so the people you had in elementary will most likely be your very close friend for life. I'm a 3rd year transfer from Southwestern Community College where I'm currently studying History with a goal to enter into law school after receiving my BA from UCLA. Besides law I also love learning about civilizations, empires, and governments, hence me being a historian. Social history particularly catches my attention because of the voices you hear from everyday people not just prominent figures, I also have a few relatives that practice law and it seems very interesting and fruitful, history tells us a lot about how laws affected everything within society so I put two-and-two together and here I am. I want to go into either business, immigration, or criminal law since those are all prevalent where I come from in San Diego. I enjoy learning about my own culture and history in general because I believe it is both empowering and useful so I’m pretty excited about taking this class. I enjoy reading interesting books, playing board and video games, dice, dominoes, cards, etc . I like games. I also skateboard frequently and enjoy sports like football, track, and hockey where I participated in all these in high school. I'm looking forward to learning more about chicana/x art this quarter and how I can expand my creative side.