“I was born in East L.A. to parents from Mexico, and growing up, I watched family members navigate incarceration, teen pregnancy and gang violence. I wanted to be part of positive change in my community, and for a long time, I thought becoming a lawyer was how I would do that. Coming to UC San Diego as a student was transformative, but it was also scary and lonely. I was searching for community and found it through student organizations like Movimiento Estudiantil Chicanx por Activismo (MEChA). By the time I graduated, I realized law wasn’t my calling. What I had discovered was a passion for supporting students. After graduation, a mentor connected me with a part-time high school outreach position at a community college in Los Angeles. That experience confirmed that working with young people was what I wanted to do. Education had been empowering for me, and I wanted to help other students experience that same sense of possibility. I’ve now been at UC San Diego as a staff member for 1...