Hana Araujo, who graduated from Coronado High School this spring, knows what it’s like to grow up with more than one way of life.
The 18-year-old spent the early part of her life in Mexico City. She has grown up in Coronado since age 5 and makes regular visits to both her mom and dad’s families in Spain.
The result is a trilateral woman — one who feels comfortable with the social, linguistic and artistic values from three nations on two continents.
“I value the ability to have all these cultures in my life.”
Hana Araujo
“I value the ability to have all these cultures in my life. I don’t struggle with my identity,” Araujo explains. “I have found ways to blend cultures to form part of who I am.”
Coronado boasts a thriving community of Mexican and Spanish-speaking nationals who also have family, businesses and social lives on the other side of the U.S.-Mexico border.
Araujo, who enjoys heading the short distance south to visit Tijuana, said the border city “feels like home.”
“I have so many different cultures and values and morals and parts of me,” said Araujo. “I might have some that I’ve learned from living in Coronado and maybe some … from my family in Mexico, or some that I’ve learned from my family in Spain.”
Araujo has family from her maternal and paternal sides in North America and Europe, specifically in Spain.
“My parents had visited Coronado in the summer for many years and loved it so much they decided to move here,” Araujo said. “Because it [Coronado] is a pretty small island, I have friends from Chula Vista, La Jolla and Tijuana.”
Nurturing a multicultural background
This year, Araujo graduated from Coronado High School, where she was involved with the National Honor Society, student government and the girls’ tennis team.
“Most of my friends only have two nationalities, whether it is American and Mexican or Mexican and Spanish. But in Mexico, there’s actually a lot of people that have Spanish and American and Mexican nationalities, which I think is super interesting and super important,” said Araujo. “It opens the door for so many new things and experiences and different perspectives.”
While Araujo’s cultural identity is distinct, she believes it is an enriching asset rather than isolating.
“I don’t think there is a separation between Americans and Mexicans … it is amazing how we all come together and form one town.”
Hana Araujo
“I don’t think there is a separation between Americans and Mexicans,” she explained. “There is a very welcoming community in Coronado, and I think it is amazing how we all come together and form one town … [it’s] part of the reason why I love Coronado.”
Araujo said she enjoyed celebrating Mexican culture with her peers at school during events to celebrate holidays like Mexican Independence Day and Cinco de Mayo, which were organized at CHS by her mom, other parents and staff.
At a Cinco de Mayo celebration, Araujo said students were drawn to the sections with historical information about the holiday.
“It was just super interesting to see everyone so curious about what Cinco de Mayo was,” said Araujo. “People were dancing, there was music, and I just really had a lot of fun there.”
And Coronado’s proximity to Mexico allowed Araujo to share aspects of her motherland with friends.
“I don’t know what I would do if I wasn’t able to cross over,” she added. “They’re like, ‘Oh, please bring me this candy.’”
But Araujo also acknowledges there is a very different world just south of the international line — a world with greater poverty, less infrastructure and fewer government services.
“It’s crazy to think that the border is only like 10 minutes from my house because the environment is so different,” she noted. “In the United States, there are … clean streets, no contamination, and then you cross over [into Mexico] and it’s totally different, which is really sad because I feel like being so close and having such different experiences, I think we should find a way to really help each other out.”
Araujo said her family volunteers and donates food and other resources to orphanages in Tijuana alongside other Mexican families in Coronado.
“Helping them out and seeing their reactions, it’s just so warm and filling and … it makes me want to do more,” said Araujo.
Voting in historic Mexico elections
This year Mexicans witnessed history when the country elected its first woman president, Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo. In fact, the victory for a woman was a foregone conclusion because Sheinbaum Pardo’s rival in the election was also female — Xóchitl Gálvez Ruiz. After the inauguration on Oct. 1, Sheinbaum Pardo will begin a six-year term in office.
For the first time ever this year, Araujo cast a vote in the Mexico elections alongside her parents.
“After 200 years of male-dominated positions in the government, I think it’s so amazing that the two primary candidates this year were female.”
Hana Araujo on the 2024 Mexico elections
“After 200 years of male-dominated positions in the government, I think it’s so amazing that the two primary candidates this year were female. I think it’s amazing that we’ve gotten to this point in society,” Araujo said following the elections on June 2.
Araujo believes young adults like herself were underrepresented in this election cycle and said she is curious to see what changes the outcome of this election is going to bring to Mexico and San Diego.
“I think a very big issue in Mexico is organized crime and it’s become a more serious issue as the years have gone by,” said Araujo. “It’s concerning to me not only because of my family and my friends living in Mexico …When I cross over to T.J., I am more aware and I am just more careful with what I’m doing. I don’t feel unsafe, but I know I do have to just be more aware of my surroundings and what’s going on than if I were in San Diego.”
Araujo, who does not have family in Tijuana, said being a fronteriza (border resident) means being able to cross over and just have those two parts of you.
Onto the next chapter
After summer travels, Araujo will relocate to Spain where she will attend college.
“I always go to Spain during the summers, but I’ve never lived there for more than three months, so I’m excited to really get to live there,” said Araujo. “I chose Spain because I would be close to my family and get to connect more with them.”
Araujo will attend Universidad Instituto de Empresa in Madrid, Spain, where she plans a double major in business administration and international relations. She said her three different cultures will help her in this next phase of her life.
“Coronado has become a part of me.”Hana Araujo
“My mom, my dad and my two brothers are staying in Coronado, so I’ll be visiting,” she added. “Coronado has become a part of me …so it’s definitely a place I’d go back to…But I also want to experience living in Mexico with my family, and living in Spain with my family.”
