Student Representative Jacqueline Guzman California State University, Northridge E-mail: jackie.guzman@hotmail.com

I was born in Puebla, Mexico and came to the U.S. at the age of 12. As a child, I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to study but I did know I wanted to attend university. My mother always told me that education was the path to a better life.

I grew up in South Central L.A. a neighborhood known by its bad reputation of gangs, poverty and drugs. When I graduated high school, I did not know if I would be able to attend college, therefore I just studied a short career: cosmetology. After graduating I started working as a hairdresser but I noticed that working behind a chair was not making me happy, besides I was not very good at it. I liked to read and write, mainly in Spanish. Therefore I went back to school and took my transferring classes. In 2006, I got accepted at California State University, Northridge under the journalism major.

Since the first time I stepped in “my new school” I knew my life would change for good… and it did! In big part, thanks to organizations like NAHJ that have helped me finance my education and have motivated me to become a good Latina journalist.

At CSUN, I’m the president for our school journalism club (which will soon be a NAHJ chapter) and I’m very proud to mention that we have over 22 official NAHJ members. Also, I had the opportunity to become the editor for the Spanish-language newspaper, El Nuevo Sol, for the 2009-2010 year. Working as an editor helped me see what a real journalist is, and I confirmed that this is my passion. I wouldn’t change my career for anything else. I want to work for the Spanish-language media and I want to focus my work in politics and immigration.