04/03/2023
Today, we are excited to spotlight an amazing Latina in our community! Let’s get to know her better!!!
Full Name : Leslie Serna
Hometown : Chicago, IL
Ethnic Background : Mexican
College: Pomona College ‘24
Major/Minor : Psychology major, Chicanx/Latinx Studies minor
Tell us about yourself? I am a first-generation, low-income, daughter of undocumented parents. Everything about me can be attributed to my family and the struggles we had to face but, thankfully, are slowly starting to overcome. My mom, Silvia Arroyo, and dad, Victor M. Serna, are from Guerrero, Mexico, with my mom being specifically from Acapulco and my dad being from San Luis San Pedro. They fell in love while working at a bank together, my mom being an accountant and my dad being a security guard. The two got married and gave birth to my older sister, Cinthia. My dad knew that he needed to support his new family and get them out of the dangers coming to Mexico at the time, so he crossed the border and made his way to Chicago. He soon earned enough money to bring my mom and sister across as well, and as they started to settle into an apartment together, I was later brought into this world. Being the only American-born in my family was hard; there were more pressures and stress added onto me from the beginning to make something of myself because I was allowed more opportunities than them, making me the one to get my family out of poverty. At a young age, I learned to always think ahead because without considering the future, you can't properly prepare yourself for the present. Thanks to my mother, father, and sister, I was able to be ranked #1 for all four.
How does your ethnic background/upbringing impact your education? With the type of background I have, I have been fortunate enough to view things from a different lens. When one gets into psychology, it's widely accepted that many research studies are WEIRD, meaning that about 80% of studies use participants that are from Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic societies. What does that say about my family, my friends, my neighbors, and me? In the eyes of psychology, we don't exist, but the truth is (continued in comments)