Ariana Berumen is a first generation Latinx student at UC Berkeley. Ariana grew up in San Martin, CA, but now lives in Gilroy, CA. Ariana is a senior double majoring in Sociology and Spanish with an Education Minor who is ambitious to continue to learn in order to better understand how to make a difference in the world. Growing up, she faced educational injustices of only knowing Eurocentric knowledge that oftentimes made her feel like people of color do not have the capability of succeeding and attaining a college education. Additionally, not having the resources that other privileged folks have has made her educational career more challenging as she has struggled to find the next steps to take during her journey. However, as she came across inspiring mentors who have guided her and as she continues to learn during my college education, Ariana has found a passion to dismantle those inequalities and to advocate for underrepresented communities in the US educational system. Currently, she is a McNair Scholar conducting research on the role that student-led organizations play in the sense of belonging of first-generation, low-income students of color in higher education in order to advocate for these spaces on college campuses. She is involved in her campus New Student Services, Golden Bear Orientation, working behind the scenes as a student mentor to help ease the first year transition to college. She is also a member of the LEDA (Leadership Enterprise for a Diverse America) Policy Corps team in which she enhanced her advocacy skills to lend her voice to higher education policy discussions. Ariana dreams of pursuing a career in education policy in which she works to do research and find ways to best close the achievement gap that pushes out marginalized communities. Ariana hopes to use her knowledge as a source of good and to make systemic change to make the educational system equitable for all.
Major(s): Sociology and Spanish
Minor(s): Education