Perla Alvarez Lucio
I am a senior/ 4th year. My major is Ethnic Studies and my minors are Spanish and Planning, Public Policy and Management
Community
I don’t have a physical space I call home. Home is wherever my family gets together. Home is where I am able to spend time with my mom, my dad, my sister and my brother, eating my mom’s homemade food (sopes and enchiladas are my favorite).
My community at the University of Oregon reminds me of home. My community at the UO supports me and we have fun together. It is a small group of people, but very valuable to my experience here at the UO. We are also organizers and activists. We have similar interests and we advocate for what we believe in. We do not take education for granted because we acknowledge that our ancestors have struggled for us to have the right to be here.
Experiences
I have faced the challenge of being the only person of color in the classroom and feeling isolated. It has happened to me at least in one class every term. I have overcome this by creating community outside of classes. In the Multicultural Center, the Center for Multicultural Academic Excellence, and MEChA.