Rep. Anna Paulina Luna

So there was a kid that was shot in the parking lot of my school.

And shot and killed.

You can actually pull up the article, Venice High School shooting.

Back before it was gentrified, it was rough.

I haven't been back since I basically left.

So when I was 19, I joined the military.

And then my mom ended up leaving California with my little brother and sister probably about like five years ago now.

Well, in the early 2000s, it was cool, too.

But it was rough.

I mean, I am.

Well, I got jumped.

Yeah.

And when I was.

Yeah, I got jumped in high school.

I swear, like part of the reason why I'm such a huge advocate for like standing up to bullies is probably because of that.

Honestly, so like seeing all that though, like being able to see that and then kind of

tell that story like I do think that there's power in that because people there's people that go through that and like think like man I might not be able to like be successful but that's not true you can always fight your way out of it I joined the military at 19 best thing I ever did and I met a lot of other people in the military who like grew up in inner city Chicago or wherever it was they're able to go back and help their family and like to my mom's credit you know my mom also has like an incredible story but she had me at 20 years old single mom

My dad ended up eventually getting clean, but my husband and I moved him in with us and then he got sober.

And so that story in itself, I think, you know, you tell your story and it empowers other people, especially to be fighters and not just give up.

Yeah.