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STAFF PORTRAIT julia barajas

Julia Barajas

Community Colleges Reporter (she/her)

I explore how community college students achieve their goals — whether they’re fresh out of high school, or going back to school for the first time in years — and how colleges help them do so.

My exposure to community colleges began when I was a high school senior. In all my years of schooling, I’d never been assigned anything written by a person of Mexican descent, despite growing up in L.A. County. So when a brochure for East Los Angeles College appeared in my family’s mailbox, I tried out dual enrollment, and took an introductory Chicano Literature course. We read everything from Helena María Viramontes’ “The Moths” to Bernice Zamora’s “Notes from a Chicana ‘COED.’” And what I learned there — about writing, about history, and about myself — stayed with me. It informed my decision to major in literature and Latin American studies when I went on to earn a four-year degree, and it continues to shape the work I do now.

My hope is that all community college students will get a similar chance to chart a course for themselves, guided by their own curiosities and ambitions.

Stories by Julia Barajas

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