Finding comfort in discomfort

As a first-generation college student from Compton, California, Berkeley changed me and my family. Berkeley was my dream school since age 12, and attending also made it possible for my three younger siblings to feel that college was possible. I learned immensely from my classes, but most of my growth came from my involvement and interactions with students, faculty, and staff. I found my voice as a leader and grew in my comfort with discomfort. It was when I found myself in my first summer abroad in Lisbon, Portugal, that I — as a child of immigrants who grew up in the inner city and entered college academically behind — felt like this is why I went to college: to access opportunities that feel unattainable in communities like mine, and make them possible. Walking the stage at the Raza graduation with my parents, and seeing their happiness and pride as they acknowledge that we made it, made my Cal experience worth it. I continue to be driven by the light of the university and the hard work of my family and those who came before me.

Photo of Margarita with long, black hair and a black top

Margarita Landeros

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