February 25th, 2016 // Day 56 of 366
Subject: Stephanie Martinez
Age: 22 Years Old
Born: Palm Springs CA // Raised in Coachella CA
Currently Resides: Chico Ca
Occupation: Student // Student Assistant and Student Judicial Affairs // Artist
“I believe that there’s factors that could cause women to not either succeed in certain things or wanna stay permanent. Being in accounting there are more girls then I expected to be in it and that’s because it’s a business major type of thing and I do see certain volunteer and clubs are mainly boys but I do see some encouragement to try and join those clubs. I see more inequality in the STEM majors (Science. Technology. Math). I see it more there because I used to be a bio major and that had a lot of women in the field, of course. But it was in engineering major that I saw my friends who were girls, they were kind of isolated from the groups of the guys getting together who did homework together, they felt kind of alone. They weren’t supported in any way and a lot of them failed out of the major because they didn’t feel as welcomed as much as other ones. Usually that major is male-dominated and woman can do it, anyone can do it but if you’re not encouraged to go and you’re not feeling like you belong there but you wanna work in it, it’s kind of hard. If you’re not wanna work for it then don’t be in that major but I see a lot of these girls, they have a craving for that knowledge. They want to do a lot, they want to be innovative, and inspiring, and do so much for the future. They have so much inspiration at first but after a while they don’t feel like they belong there.”
“I think the family values in a traditional Mexican family are important. If one of your family is struggling you help them as much as possible and it’s kind the work ethic too. I do respect that and I do hope that I present that somewhat that if a group, if someone is failing that you don’t shut them out but you do help them up and fill in the gaps for the work that needs to be done there. If went out to the fields and you’re struggling someone will eventually help you. My aunt didn’t like going into the fields and of course when you start you’re aren’t the greatest picker or employee but people help bring you into it. She was struggling on her knees picking grapes and then literally there were two men helping and they got their part done and then her part done her first day. So she started growing into it and she was like, ‘People are here helping me so of course I’m gong to be supported to keep going’, cause of course work needs to be done. So I believe those traditions need to be passed along”.
“I have a special place for Chico. I love the people here and I love the support for artist and local businesses, it’s really nice. If I’m walking down the street and I literally fall, someone will stop their car and ask me if I’m ok. I like how people can look out for each other or if you have a neighbor and you introduce yourself and next week they’ll probably be like ‘Someone was trying to into your door. I kind of came out and asked them what they were doing’. Things like that, you watch out for each other. It’s the locals but it’s also the students it’s one of the rich things about here that I like that there’s that support. There’s also someone to understands your situation and if there isn’t you can find out there. I did find it hard to socialize at first but I started getting to know someone and then I ending up knowing more people and then meeting more people. I hold the door open for people now, in SoCal that’s weird.”
“The one thing that I did learn is that sometimes people are temporary and they come and go and it’s good to take a chance, you know you took a chance. Or if you don’t take a chance you might constantly thinking about, ‘What if you had’ and I hate the ‘what ifs’ cause if you have to many ‘what ifs’, you have a lot of feeling that you didn’t do as much as you wanted to. So when it comes to going after a relationship or liking someone, you have to be honest with yourself; Do I like them cause they excite me sexually or do I like them cause of their brain or the way they are, there are many types of love. I find love between people and friends nicer sometimes then romantic relationships. I do get confused with my traditional values from my parents that when you marry someone that it’s going to be you and that person together forever and then coming here to Chico you see people having sex with whomever they want and it normal, it’s ok. You get introduced to that compared to the family at home that tells you that you’re only supposed to have one husband and that it’s ok to divorce them but just make sure you did what you could to stay with them.”
“I think that the problems I’ve had with people in general help me understand how to approach people from now on. Before in Coachella where I was raised with my friends we were used hugging each other when we saw each other like, ‘how’s it goin?’. Then at Sierra Nevada I met a girl that was nice to me and then we hung out with friends and hen I ended up hugging her goodbye and she was like, ‘Whoa, that’s weird’, and I’m like, “Oh I shouldn’t hug people’. So I learned how to approach people and ask ahead of time can I do this. Can I get a high five? Can I get a hug? And if not, totally. I’m used to it, it’s normal. It’s ok to say no. That’s one of the best things is to say no. When you say maybe and you wanna say no, say no.”
“Life is like a river, since we’re here by the creek. There’s gonna be rocks but you still have to go with the flow. Cause if not and if the flow stops, everything sinks flow back to that rock and you’re going to be stuck in an eddy. And so don’t be stuck in an eddy. Move on. If you’re going to be stuck in an eddy at least be happy”.
Thanks for Stephanie for being persistent and finally meeting up with me today. A very thoughtful person who is very motivated to succeed not only in school but in the game of life. I’m glad we got to sit and talk for a while about all things that were important to her.
