Theater collaboration

[Continued from pg. 1] has helped him further his goal to be a mechanic.

“It’s something that I dreamt of, and for me to get an associate as well was a big goal,” Camacho said.

Student Marco Mota said that fixing cars was something he was passionate about.

“It’s freedom, and it’s where I can get away from everything and not worry about the seriousness of life,” Mota said.

“I know our faculty is very open and supportive of bringing ethnic studies courses into our curriculum,” Aguiar said. “We need to be unbiased, creative, embracing of everyone. Those are all characteristics that we all must in education have and that is how we can all enrich our own courses, regardless of what discipline.”

Valenzuela taught Latino Theater alongside the Chicano Studies Department at UCLA. He said these kinds of conversations have enlightened his students.

“The feedback that I got from my students when I was teaching at UCLA was that I changed their life,” Valenzuela said. “The Dean of UCLA tells me to stop inspiring people.”

The partnership with the Latino Theater Company is dedicated to helping students understand the contributions of culture and history in modern society and theater.

“If you don’t know your history, you don’t know who you are,” Valenzuela said. “The truth is- when you know who you are in history and how many things you can do with who you are, it’s incredible. So many of my students think of success as a place or goal. Success is not a destination but a journey of someone’s life.” aorel.roundupnews@gmail.com