Students Like Us (2012)

Andrea, a young woman, has an awakening of love and consciousness in her first year at school. Twenty years later, her teenage daughter has grown up to be everything her mom had fought against in her youth. In "Students Like Us" Andrea tells her own college story to her daughter Avelina, who would rather be surfing than hearing any of her mother's stories. Andrea's dad used his life savings to send her to college, and although she should have been focused on her business major, she could not keep herself away from the two things he despised: the student activists and the Art Department. After befriending a whole new breed of people, like gorgeous Mike from East Los Angeles who looks like a cholo but brings home straight A's, Andrea must decide how far she will go to advocate for "Raza College Day" (a student-led outreach event for the local high-school students)--even if it means going head-to-head with the well-meaning college administration to do so. What ensues is a heartfelt, politically-charged coming-of-age story of a young woman daring to be who she dreams of being and a father letting go of his own dreams so that she can live hers. Remembering her journey, Andrea finally finds the compassion to hear what makes her own daughter's heart thump.