English

When you see my name on a name tag or written somewhere, I get that you’ll likely use the English pronunciation. You can’t know how I say my name until I tell you.

In recent years, Latinx and Chicanx students have made up a greater percentage of UC Berkeley’s transfer admit classes than its freshman admit classes — in the 2022-2023 cycle, nearly 30% of all admitted Latinx and Chicanx students were transfers.

Packed into this equation is the obligation I feel to live up to the rankings, but more than anything, to the legacy of those who have made it possible for me to know what career I want to pursue and actively go for it.

After having worked in various departments and facilities, here are some of my biggest takeaways from UC Berkeley’s work-study program.

Sometimes, I reach the border of the translatable, where the languages that normally exist happily together in my mind disaffiliate.

This language belongs to every person of color, regardless of anyone’s racism or bigotry. We belong in the English language, the English curriculum and the literary world.

Stories continually circulate through our veins. They touch our very hearts — in through the pulmonary vein, out through the aorta.

It’s time to binge-watch your favorite cliche films and yell at the characters onscreen for making stupid decisions that will definitely get them killed.

Our local Berkeley alley is now “dodgy,” not sketchy; elevators are labeled as “lifts;” American friends use “bloody” and “bum” in place of ruder options.