In between clashing cultures

Escrito por: Dulce Ortiz 🇬🇹

Emily Nava uses she/they pronouns interchangeably, and they will be referred to as both throughout the profile.

Headshot of Emily Nava. (Emelyn Gomez)

Growing up, Emily Nava wasn't sure where she fit in. Being the middle child in their family, she often rebelled in search of herself.

Le costaba conectar su identidad mexicana con la personalidad que enseñaba en la escuela, especialmente cuando su vida en casa estaba tan llena de varias tradiciones, comidas y experiencias latinas. 

“As a child, you want to integrate with your peers, so I began rejecting my culture. Which really sucked because I was pushing down that part of me that I loved so dearly, but I couldn’t express,” Nava said.

At 13, Nava began to experience mental health issues, which would become debilitating, constantly inducing test anxiety and stress. Because of this, college was never in their future plans.

Fue inspirada a estudiar en la universidad después de haberse inscrito en clases de arte y de TEM en Anne Arundel Community College.

“I truly loved it. It really felt like I found a place where I could be me and I could still help other people. I had a purpose,” Nava added.

Nava arrived at UMD as a family health student—formerly the family science program—and quickly fell in love with the tight-knit community. It allowed her to explore and understand the dynamic relationships in her life, especially with herself and her family.

Photo of the Nava Family. (Courtesy of Emily Nava)

En la universidad, logró conseguir recursos para ayudar a su salud mental, hasta encontrándose con Reneé Stokes, una asesora académica que se convertiría en su mejor mentora y sistema de soporte. A pesar de estos logros, se dio cuenta de que otra parte de su identidad estaba en conflicto. 

As a queer Latina, she felt that although there were spaces for people in the LGBTQ+ community, they weren't necessarily created for people with diverse identities like hers. She took it upon herself to create De Colores, a queer Latine space to encourage community and intersectionality. 

“I wanted to find people that truly wanted to create that space and put a new piece of our community here. Because for a long time, we felt like we didn’t exist, but we do,” Nava said.

Nava went through the ups and downs of creating an organization, a process that nearly took an entire year. During the same time, she was an active member of Latina Pathways, which she then helped transform into the Latino Empowerment and Opportunity Network (L.E.O.N.).

With these outlets, Nava began finding her place amongst her two cultures. Moving forward, she has big ambitions for herself. 

Después de un año sabático, Nava quiere continuar en una facultad de derechos para continuar en una carrera por la que es apasionada.

“I’ve struggled a lot mentally to get here, but I do see why I needed to go to college because it was the part that saved me,” Nava said.