At 14, I thought being a proud Latina meant involvement with gangs and dropping out of high school. I never imagined one day I would be entering my third year of Law School at the University Of Washington pursuing a career as a public defender. Today, at nearly 30, I look back on that young woman in a gang and I am proud of the lessons she’s learned. I am proud she was strong enough and had the determination to turn her life around; to exemplify what it means to be a proud Latina by making her parents proud and being an example in her community. That young woman is me. My name is Alena Suazo. I was born in San Dimas, California to a Mexican immigrant father and a US born mother. My parents split when I was too young to remember, but I was very lucky to have a step-father, a Chilean immigrant, who loved me as his own.

As a child, my parents showered me with love. They worked hard to provide for me. I remember dad working days and mom working nights so someone would always be home with me. But when I entered Jr. High life for me changed. I noticed racial, ethnic and class segregation in my school.

I realized my family didn’t have the money to buy designer clothes and we didn’t live in the neighborhood with the biggest houses in Camarillo, Ca. I also realized some students didn’t like others because they spoke Spanish or their parents did, like mine. It made me feel bad about myself. So I aligned myself with people from my neighborhood and people culturally like me. At that time my father became ill and was unable to work for two years. This left my mother as the sole provider and care taker of my father and required me to be self-sufficient. This combination of home struggle and school problems led me to seek refuge with the local gang where I was accepted and received support.