Maricela Sahagun is a Mexican-American born in Los Angeles, California. Although she was born in L.A. on September 9, 2000, she was raised in the small town of Yuma, Arizona, about fifteen minutes away from the Mexican border. Her entire childhood she was surrounded by her immediate family and friends. She enjoyed the silence and the chirp of birds in the warm desert morning everyday. At the age of twelve she moved back to East Los Angeles and attended Stevenson Middle School. Adaptation became essential for her. She moved from hot scorching weather to “the perfect city with the perfect weather”, and she went from attending a private charter school to a public school where they set trashcans on fire. However, she quickly found the cultured people and the streets penetrated with the diverse smells of churros, tacos, and hot dogs great. She quickly began to love the loud streets and the diversity. They took the homie out of the hood but they couldn’t take the hood out of the homie. Now, Chela (her family given nickname) attends James A. Garfield High School. She is a motivated student who is involved in ASB, drama club, Humanitas Council, Bible Club, and Environmental club. Her biggest goal in life is to have fun while getting down to business. At a young age she realized how important it is to be grateful for everything, because in a blink of an eye things can change drastically, like from having a walk in closet, to keeping your clothes in a small storage room in your backyard. Success, the hopes for a better life, and her faith keep her strong and standing. The homie will succeed, just wait on it.