“My dad is Hispanic but people say, ‘You’re too white to be Mexican.’ It’s not just based on skin color.  After I became really good friends with a few of my close friends they were like, ‘My first impression of you was that you were the stereotypical white girl.’ Honestly, I can tell when people stereotype you and it’s kind of annoying and it kinda makes you down because you’re like, ‘that’s not me’ and they say ‘but you’re this person,’ but you’re not.

With me working my job and having to watch my brother and getting homework done. That’s the hardest part of my life. I regret not listening to my parents and their advice.  Honestly, I’m proud of my little brother because he and I are pretty close and he’s about to go to middle school so I gave him some advice and, for being surprisingly young, he’s listened to me a lot. So I’m proud of him.”

Interview by Mike Zobel, Evan Heiderscheidt,  and Jada Cousin

Photo by Mike Zobel