Resendiz, Jasmine

Hi everyone! My name is Jasmine and my preferred pronouns are she/her/hers. I am a fourth-year Chican@ Studies and Sociology major and am originally from the San Fernando Valley. I am the child of two Mexican immigrant parents and was born and raised in Los Angeles County for the majority of my life. When I was younger I remember my father always telling me, Si te preguntan que eres, diles que eres Mexican-American. So from a very young age, I have questioned self-identification among my own experiences and of those around me. For instance, a lot of the kids in my elementary school spoke Spanish, yet they were not all Mexican. My best friend in high school was half Salvadorian and half Guatemalan, yet her customs and religion were just like mine. Being brought up in such a diverse city, I have learned that self-identity is extremely complicated yet it is what makes an individual whole. UCLA has exposed even more to the diversity within my classroom and on campus. Thus, I am excited to learn more about Chicana artists that have experimented with the importance of identity and who most closely illustrate my experiences.