Angel Aviles was once known by many as Sad Girl, but they don’t say that to her anymore.
Pierce College’s Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán (MEChA) held their Third Annual Chicano/Latino Heritage Month Speaker Series “Platica & Book Signing” on Sept. 17.
The series featured Angel Aviles, who starred as Sad Girl in the 1993 drama, “Mi Vida Loca.” Aviles discussed her life with students and shared excerpts from her self-help memoir “Too Happy to Be Sad Girl: Surviving Sadness, Ditching Anxiety and Learning to Thrive.”
“What I learned from living in the hood is there are levels to it, there are people who live well, and are community focused,” Aviles said. “It wasn’t just the terror. If you focus on the bad you’ll miss out on everything it has to offer.”
Aviles’ book covers many pivotal moments throughout her life that have shaped her into the individual she is today. Although she has spent time on the big screen, some may find her life story relatable, hitting topics like living in poverty, dealing with loss and the importance of individuals seeing themselves represented in art and literature.
“I was using the book as a way of creating a process for my coaching practice while also finding a way towards wellness for myself,” Aviles said. “It took tens of years to become emotionally naked enough to finish the book.”
Aviles spent much of her childhood living in the Bronx and she learned about what it meant to be part of a community.
As Aviles grew up, she eventually moved to Los Angeles to follow her acting career and during that time her brother Rick died, which forever left a hole in her heart. Aviles shared her experience of dealing with grief to students.
“People live through us in our memory of them. I don’t think death is something to overcome as much as it’s something to be accepted,” Aviles said. “The beauty of being a keeper of one’s story is a privilege and a way I found to navigate the pain.”
Angelita Rovero, Professor of Chicano Studies and Advisor to MEChA at Pierce was also in attendance at the event and shared how special it was to have Aviles present to speak.
“I think it’s important for students to be exposed to certain personalities, icons and legends,” Rovero said. “Not because they’re in the industry, but because they have a platform where they can actually share within a wider range in our community.”
Aviles shared with the crowd that “the most important story you’ll hear is the one you tell yourself.”
Rovero shared how she navigates her own narrative.
“It’s a balance,” Rovero said. “I made sure I dominated both cultures. I felt like I had to, but now I see it as a blessing. I think it is learning about who you are and where you come from, embracing where you come from regardless of where from, connecting to it, loving it, and having pride.”
MEChAs’ mission is cultural diversity and to continue the college curriculum of Chicano Studies. It was originally founded in the 1960s and is now found in nearly every university in America, according to Rovero.
MEChA Secretary Oscar Rodriguez said he has learned about his own ethnic background and history since joining.
“I’ve understood more about what it is to be Mexican,” Rodriguez said. “I’m a first generation Mexican-American, so me doing service for four years gave my parents the opportunity to have residency, but now that my task was done, I wanted to see what else I could do.”
Rodriguez recently retired from the military and took the opportunity Pierce provided to learn more about Latino culture through the Chicano Studies courses offered and encouraged others to do the same.
“All these cultures should embody the opportunity for other people to explore and understand their culture, if they enjoy it they could relate somehow and explore further to develop something for their life from that culture,” Rodriguez said.
