Jonathan Zamudio
Period 3-4
4/ 24/13
Mt. St. Mary’s College Field Trip.

On April,13,2013 myself and fellow students we went to Mt. Saint Mary’s College an all female catholic private university which normally would take 20 minutes just to get there but because of traffic it took longer. The hillside of Mt.Saint Mary’s college was very beautiful to look at and as soon as we headed to the parking lot Dr.Ochoa immediately came to introduce herself and allowed us to have a tour. I was astonished with the old buildings and how the college has been around since the 1920s under an order of nuns and how the building has grown since. The buildings from the inside looked like a typical high school as one would find in a high school TV series, with hallways full of student lockers. During this time Mr. Franco had us sitting on a bench close to the hills further explaining what the importance of being mestiza was in Gloria Anazulda’s essay and was at a stage of finding her identity as opposed to Anglo-
American culture. The other students related to Anazulda by their own experience with identity.
Along the campus tour the food was great even though I had a sandwich and everybody else had salads, curly fries or burgers. During this time the professor was asking where we wanted to go in our future and explaining to us the difference between state and private universities and how private universities rely on trying to make sure your tuition is paid for.
During the campus tour Dr.Ochoa explained private universities were looking for people of color in their schools, she also said the public universities are in a state of budget crisis which is true because of the increase in tuition.
The essay I studied on Gloria Anazulda was very confusing; most of the essay was metaphysically on rediscovering herself culturally because of an imposed culture which was forced on Chicanos by Anglos hence wanting to create a new race .A fifth race Anazulda talks about that is not mentally colonized and believes this fifth race is a form of free-will following into the same degree of extreme subjectivism. This means that “one’s own mental activity as the

only unquestionable fact of our experience".
Anazulda follows many existentialist writers ignoring the historical implications as to how and where culture develops because many existentialists believe “existence precedes essence” which means that our own existence is before our past.
In the second reading we studied the statistics on the increase in births for Hispanics particularly those of Mexican descent. The study shows how increased border security moreover, the growing unemployment rate in the U.S has reduced illegal immigration. None of the other students shared my insight since they were more interested in Gloria Anazulda’s identity struggle.
What I found most interesting was the discussion held between both Dr.Ochoa and her students about Chicana identity and what it means to be Chicana in an Anglo society. I didn’t agree with what she was saying because there were barely any facts to her “truths” because it was abstract as opposed to looking into the root problem as to why there is still discrimination against Mexicans and Chicanos. A student in the class discussion relied on the general observations made her believe this is why that the Mexicans are loud, live in crowded areas, and are dirty and because of this Mexicans and Chicanos get kicked out of their neighborhoods.
However, this is only half of the truth because these sorts of stereotypes allow real estate agents to increase the price of property so that minorities in their community can move out and others can move in. This allows real estate agents to sell such houses for more profit. Moreover, one has to realize the fact that in barrios or ghettos are also being exploited for their resources such as the money accumulated in the ghetto or barrio do not go back into the community. I shared a couple of my opinions during class discussion but was unable to do so when it was time to leave.
I loved the discussion I had during one student’s presentation. It has further motivated me to explore college and do anything I can to learn so I can have more interesting discussions like the

one on Wednesday and maybe work on a degree. This does not mean that universities are powerful places of learning. The professors only keep their ears in academics, but that is not to say that all the teachers have all the grains of truth as grains of truth are found everywhere. Even though many of the students knew what was going on most of the students conclusions relied on abstract theory about rediscovering ourselves instead of looking at why racism by Anglo intuitions impose policies that do not allow immigrants to come to this country with full citizenship and equal rights the same as every citizen.
I think that identity politics go hand in hand between abstract theories on rediscovering oneself and that our own mental experience is going to all of a sudden turn us into a fifth cosmic race . All the students were not looking as to why persecution is wreaked upon Latinos and that is because for the use of labor for profit can be used to exploit the working class.
Regardless I had a lot of fun!