“As a woman, what are you passionate about?”
Name: Kianna Rodriguez
Age: 22
Hometown: Temecula, California
Major: Communication
“I realized what I want to be doing is working with people. I want to start off working in a social atmosphere. You bring an aspect of your life to people. The way I live my life is by being happy and helping others be happy. I’m always hoping to spread some positivity to others and [communication] really helps you with that. It’s an intersectional way to understand people.”
Name: Estrella Corza
Age: 21
Hometown: Riverside, California
Major: Economics
“I’m passionate about people, connections [and] being supportive. That’s why I became an economics major. I feel like if I understand money, I can help people. Money speaks. I want to be able to know what to do with it and give it to the right people.”
Name: Sarah Rich
Age: 20
Hometown: Mountain View, California
Major: Kinesiology
“I love moving around. Playing is really important. I would love to help others love moving. I happened to find this wonderful community of hardworking women that are like me and like to hit people, but not in a malicious way, in rugby. At the end of the day, you have to look within yourself and find what you truly enjoy, regardless of any kind of oppressive factors you’ve experienced in your life.”
Name: Christi Molina
Age: 21
Hometown: San Luis Obispo, California
Major: English
“I volunteer for a Y.E.S. House program, Step Up and also work with Scholars Without Borders, a safe space program centered around providing for undocumented or DACA students. These have opened a lot of leadership roles for me and helped me get in touch with this activist and resistant side of me. I’m on the teaching pathway. I think there’s a lot of institutional racism in our education system and I want to be in the system to teach kids, specifically girls, how to embrace their culture.”
Name: Jazmin Sandoval
Age: 22
Major: Film
Hometown: Los Angeles, California
“As a film major, I like to document a lot of events. I want to incorporate film with my activism. I’m in MEChA and I want to be part of the change they fight for. I also volunteer for the Women’s Resource Center. By being more active, I felt like I have more of a voice. It’s about finding that strength that you can express yourself and be heard, as opposed to keeping quiet and thinking you cannot make a difference.”
Name: Marleen Woelke
Age: 18
Hometown: Hanover, Germany
Major: Undeclared
“I once had a very inspiring female doctor, she was very strong and kind. Then, I had another doctor who made me feel so uncomfortable. I want to be there for women, make them feel comfortable to share their story. I want to have my own career, accomplish something for myself, independent of men. I’m in the pre-med club at the university and in the summer, I’m doing an internship in a hospital in Germany.”
All photos by Lora Neshovska.
