My name is Emily Chasan and I am a senior at Tufts University. I am majoring in International Relations, and minoring in Economics. I was raised in a small suburb just outside Philadelphia, called Bala Cynwyd (it is a Welsh name, so I have spent much of my life trying to help people pronounce it.) I have a younger brother, and my parents both still live in the Philadelphia area. My Grandfather is from Panama, and my interest in immigration issues stem, in part, from his experiences.

I joined the Urban Borderlands class this semester because I really like Anthropology classes, and I thought it was important to talk to members of the Latino community when I worked for a newspaper in Queens this summer, and I wanted to continue that in Somerville.

This is a wonderful class and opportunity to get to know the community where I have spent the last four years. I would like to especially thank Professor Deborah Pacini Hernandez for teaching the course, as well as all my classmates and the AHORA partners. And none of this would have been possible without the willing participation of my narrators, so I owe a big thank you to each and every one of you.

In addition to Urban Borderlands, I have been very busy as usual. At Tufts I am a tour guide and also an Associate Editor for The Tufts Daily ( www.tuftsdaily.com ). I spent last semester studying-abroad in Madrid, Spain. This summer I was an intern for The Queens Courier ( www.queenscourier.com ) and El Correo de Queens in Bayside, New York. Next summer I will be working for The Wall Street Journal.