Today we’d like to introduce you to Aranza Martinez.
Hi Aranza, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
I always tell people that I was born in Memorial City Hospital right by I-10. The one that lights up every night and changes the color of the lights with every celebration.
I was born in Spring Branch, which is a developing community and a lot of people like me, people of color, inhabit that area.
I then moved to the suburb area of Houston, in Cypress, when I was about 8 years old in second grade. It was an adjustment since the schools weren’t as loud as the ones that I knew before, you don’t get as many field trips as the other district, and the food was so much better back in my spring branch school.
The only good thing I remember about Cyfair was that I didn’t have to wear uniform, and the teachers at Cyfair were so much more supportive of me.
My parents had just bought a two-story house and it was awesome. I also started getting bullied around this time. The kids here were meaner. They would steal my stuff and always told me I wasn’t capable of doing what they could. I learned soon what competition was at this age.
My grandfather was diagnosed with cancer around this time, so my mother, my sister, and my brother packed up and we went to Mexico to go support him.
She is from a little tiny town in Mexico called El Huayal in San Luis Potosí. I stayed there for about a school year, and the education system was SO MUCH MORE DIFFERENT than back home.
The schools were made of cement; they did not have AC, everything was written in chalkboards.
It was nice to see my mother’s roots and where she came from.
I moved back to Houston at the end of that school year in 2nd grade.
I then went on to middle school, where the bullying became so much more intense.
I went to a middle school that was honestly ruthless. It felt like survival of the fittest at times, and things back home were not of any help either.
With my mother coming from a small little ranch village, she did not understand how the school here in America really worked. She wasn’t engaged with my learning as much as I would have liked but I understand now that being a stay-at-home mother of 5 is not really going to leave you with a lot of time for yourself.
The bullying stopped in high school when I finally removed myself from others and became detached and disinterested in engaging with others and school achievements as a whole.
My first form of creating art began when I started doing my makeup at 16 taking selfies, and just caring for myself.
I’ve always been told I am beautiful growing up- even though I’ve had such a hard time believing it due to the bullying and how badly my self-esteem was damaged.
I love fashion, makeup, nails, changing your hair color, and just expressing yourself through your body.
The long journey of self-love and self-acceptance that has been placed upon me and am still navigating.
I am 23 years old now trying to figure out the world and how to be able to be financially independent and successful with what I have been given in this life.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Yes, being a first-generation Latina, it feels sometimes like there are many obstacles in my path. I’ve also struggled a lot with mental health issues growing up.
At times, I feel helpless, especially with everything going on at this time.
It feels like I can’t help anyone.
With school shootings, war, power imbalances, it truly feels like there is no peace, no justice.
The world these days is very vulgar and in your face.
The love of God feels very unseen and forgotten
Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I love to create anything I can with the hands I have. It’s anything really!
The food I make for my lover, the smoothies I make at work, the latte art my friend helped me perfect, the gifts I am able to give to my loved ones, the conversations I have, looking into another person’s eyes, just being alive and the fact I am still alive is what I call art.
We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
Financial stability is something that is very important in this country. Being able to provide for yourself and for your future generation is what the American dream is all about. Being able to work is a blessing.
They should also raise the minimum wage. They are robbing us of our time
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @mygirlinstars
- Twitter: @mygirlinstars
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@aranzanube?si=lT3GYPTxEzhcHx1s
Image Credits
ARANZA
