IVANIA RUIZ ORTIZ—is a CWI alum and faculty member, and a Los Angeles Unified (LAUSD) special educator and community activist, working with 16-19-year-old high-needs students in the San Fernando Valley. As a junior at Reseda High School, she attended her first Raza Youth Conference. The next year she was admitted to Cal State University, Northridge. She joined EL Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan (M.E.Ch.A.) at CSUN and quickly added the Chicano and Chicana Studies Program as a double major. CSUN’s major is the largest and oldest ethnic studies program in the country. These spaces allowed her the opportunity to meaningfully collaborate with other students. These students advocated for the betterment of their community and wanted to create meaningful changes to support those struggling. During a time of growth and development, these spaces challenged her views and perspectives giving way to self-reflection. She says that at CSUN, “I found a home away from home. M.E.Ch.A and Chicano Studies allowed me to find the identity I always searched for but never knew existed.” She became an active M.E.Ch.A member, later in a leadership role. She has since presented at numerous conferences, including at the National M.E.Ch.A Conference, at UCLA. Her nontraditional and long journey inspired her to focus on analyzing the broken education system to find the real meaning of “learning”. She plans to next pursue an M.A., focusing on creating meaningful learning opportunities for all learners using interdisciplinary studies, mentorship support, and community engagement programs. She believes that “In order to create real change we need to invest in our children. They are the most vulnerable part of our society and when we provide children with the resource, we eradicate social issues of inequality