Legacy Student Follows Her Mother’s Footsteps at CSUN

By Naomi Ruiz

Screenwriting graduate Alina Davila was raised by her mother Laura Davila-Martinez, who was a teen mom at the age of 17. Her mom was a graduate of California State University, Northridge (CSUN) in 2006, she graduated with a bachelor's degree in English. It was at CSUN her mother learned to balance her responsibilities. Balancing these responsibilities made it difficult for her to grow up and raise a child at the same time.

Davila-Martinez studied English in hopes to use it to teach. Once she graduated and left CSUN, she successfully became a junior high teacher in their hometown of Santa Maria. She has been teaching at El Camino Junior High School for nine years and counting. 

“She [works in the] AVID program which is basically getting kids [and] teenagers from junior high and high school to prepare for college,” Davila says. “She [likes] for her AVID kids to go around to different college campuses [and tell them], ‘Well, you guys should be preparing now.’” 

Davila noticed that even with her mother balancing everything, she did her best to prioritize her education. This influenced her to also prioritize her education as she grew up.

"I viewed [education] as very important… Something that's very necessary," Davila says. "I knew that whatever I had to do, I would have to get an education for it."

Some people are able to develop film careers without pursuing a degree. However, Davila wanted to learn as quickly as she could with the film courses being offered at CSUN. 

In addition to her mother having attended CSUN, Davila’s great aunt went there too. Which further inspired her decision to go to CSUN herself.

“It was so cute when she was moving me in,” Davila says. “She took a picture of me in front of the daycare center I used to attend and she started crying.”

Davila transferred to CSUN in Fall 2020 declaring a major in Cinema and Television Arts (CTVA). Her first year was a good experience, although the downside was stressing out while trying to figure out her online classes at home during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It sucked at first but it made me even more excited to come in person to listen because the professors were great,” said Davila. “I could tell I was gonna get a very different education experience than I expected.”

Thanks to the help of her mother, Davila learned to develop independence as she pushes through her life as a college student.

“She knows I want a social life every once in a while… But she always says, ‘Don’t let that get in the way of your studies or else,’” said Davila.

Although their college experiences are different from the other, their dreams of pursuing passionate careers are the same. 

Davila noticed that Hollywood studios would buy stories that are about the racial injustices people of color (POC) have faced. Now Hollywood is beginning to show positive light POC stories and actors. This is where Davila sees her chance to breakthrough into the industry. 

“Hollywood has been doing a really good job as of recently to encourage more of those stories but it's still not enough,” said Davila. 

For life post-graduation, Davila wants to sell her scripts and make a stable income from it. She is also debating on using her master’s degree to teach college-level screenwriting. 

“I really want my own streaming service geared toward people of color stories to kind of tell it the way they want to,” Davila says.

Bonus Question: Do you recommend college?

Davila says yes!