Arhanxa Choquehuanca is a senior who will be graduating in the Spring. Throughout her four years at Cal Lutheran, she has been able to hold a full time job, working forty hours of more a week on top of being a full time student. She recently got a new job with Interface, working for their human trafficking unit. Her dream job is to be a court interpreter and translate for people who need help, or going into immigration, and ultimately being an advocate; an immigration law interpreter. Throughout her free time, she likes to be on Netflix or spend time with her boyfriend. She loves going to the beach, cold or hot. She’s a first-generation college student, and she’s Peruvian. Arhanxa is an only child but the oldest of all her cousins, so she’s kind of like a big sister to them. Read on to learn more about this soon to be alum!
Her Campus at Cal Lutheran: How does it feel knowing that you’ll be graduating this academic year?
Arhanxa Choquehuanca: It’s scary. I’m not going grad school right now because it’s not necessary for what I want to do in the future, so I’m just going to be working. It’s scary but I’m really excited for it. All of my hard work from the beginning is coming to an end so it feels really rewarding for me.
HCCLU: What are your plans after college?
AC: Enjoy my free time for sure. Right now since I’m working with the human trafficking side, but I want go into the legal advocacy of my company so I want to move positions and have an office setting 9:00-5:00 job.
HCCLU: What are you majoring in and how did you decide on it?
AC: Criminology and Criminal Justice and Spanish. I decided on Criminal Justice because coming into college I knew I wanted to do something on the legal side of things. Political science was out of the question for me. I took intro to criminal justice my first semester here with Professor Lucas and it inspired me. And then with Spanish, I was originally going to minor in it but it was only five more classes and I needed extra classes for units, so I just decided to major in it instead, especially since I’m already fluent in it.
HCCLU: What has been your most memorable moment here at Cal Lutheran?
AC: My best friend Ashley is a student at Cal Lutheran too and I have known her since middle school. She’s also majoring in criminal justice so we’ve had a lot of our classes together. So I guess, growing together and within our majors, seeing us mature and graduating together.
HCCLU: What has been the most important thing you’ve learned these past four years?
AC: If you put your mind to something, anything is possible. Determination is important. Knowing that you have all the resources and the people on your side that have helped you throughout it all. I found out about Interface through Dr. Lucas and Student Support Services through Ashley, so it’s definitely good to ask questions.
HCCLU: Who inspires you the most in life?
AC: My parents. They were studying law in Peru and they stopped all that to come to the United States, and I want them to know that everything I do here at Cal Lu is for them, like “hey, your decision to come here wasn’t a mistake.” They’re actually going back to school which shows me that no matter what age, you can go back and do it. It inspires me especially if I want to go back to school for grad school, I know I can do it.
HCCLU: Which professor inspired you the most while being here at CLU?
AC: Dr. Molly George and Dr. Rafaela Fiore. I took Dr. George’s Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Crime course as well as Research Methods, her passion for students as well as what she’s teaching is inspiring. She would always tell us to take care of ourselves first even if finals are coming. A lot of professors throw everything at you but she really cared about our well-being and how it would further our success in school. Dr. Fiore told us her story about why she came to study and the only reason why she was allowed to study was because she was married. It’s crazy how back in the day, that was how it had to be. Now she has a PhD, which is the highest level of education someone can have. People were looking down at her and now she’s doing really big things. Fiore is the person she needed back then and she’s that for us as well.
HCCLU: Advice you’d give to an undergrad student?
AC: Ask a lot of questions. I came in not knowing anything and I feel like now I have knowledge of what to do. I know people say that you should take time to figure out your major, but I would say to have your major set by your second semester of sophomore year. Because of this, I knew what I wanted to do, and I made everything possible for my courses.