respuestas published

THE MAKING OF
Respuestas
by jonathan valenzuela MejíA
“Ahora sé que ya mi respuesta encontré (Che c’è una risposta per me)”
-Laura Pausini in Mi Respuesta/La Mia Risposta
I first pitched Respuestas when I was a freshman in La Gente, and while it wasn’t selected as the theme that year,
the idea always stuck around with me. Respuestas was inspired by Laura Pausini’s 1998 album, Mi Respuesta, also
known as La Mia Risposta in her native Italian. This so happens to be one of my favorite albums of all time.
I was in the last quarter of my freshman year, and had just moved to LA from the Bay Area by myself. I was looking
for answers on if this was the right move because I had left all the comforts of home and my family for the first time
since graduating high school. The idea for Respuestas as an issue for La Gente aged alongside me during my time at
UCLA. It came to me when I wondered what to make of my limited time in college. However, now Respuestas
reflects on who we are here at UCLA, as a community of Latines brought together during a time in which the world
has shifted so much and so quickly. We reflect on our own experiences and see what we can get from within
ourselves.
Writing Respuestas has helped me look for and understand answers to the questions I’ve asked about my life before.
“What is our place as Latines on this campus? In this world? What are the issues impacting our fellow Latines that
we may not know about? Or our community as a whole?” In my own writing, and that of my peers, I’ve come to
comprehend ideas, perspectives, and thoughts that I couldn’t even conceive of before. Now Respuestas means
questioning everything and seeking, along with answering, all these questions and thoughts you have for yourself,
your community and others. It does mean ‘answers’ in Spanish after all. The theme for this fall is meant to
evoke reflection and self discovery, in whatever way it may look like for you. Don’t necessarily
wait on others to do it for you.
Respuestas doesn’t just represent a journey or looking for answers, but it also
represents a new start for La Gente. It represents an era where we as an
organization ask ourselves what we want to contribute and who we
want to be in the UCLA space.
We hope that Respuestas can help you answer your questions
as much as it has for us.
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