Ángel Gutiérrez has three homes: Texas, Mexico, and Philadelphia, they say. “To me, home is a place where I feel both belonging and care.” For the latest installment of People and Places at Penn, Penn Today spoke with Gutiérrez and three other students about where they feel at home, what motivates them, where they seek solace, and how they unwind during the colder months on campus.
Ángel Gutiérrez is from Pittsburg, the one in rural east Texas. Gutiérrez’s parents immigrated from Michoacán, Mexico, and the sophomore is exploring their relationship to the environment, an interest furthered by their studies in anthropology and philosophy. “What are my obligations to the lands? Who am I in kin with, and how can I be in better relations with the many beings around me?” they ask.
At Penn, La Casa Latina has become a home away from home. “I mean, everyone says that, but it’s true,” Gutiérrez says. It’s a place where they can unwind and talk with director Krista Cortez, who “provides sincerity and a fresh breath of air,” Gutiérrez says.
As an anthropology major, Gutiérrez is often found in the Penn Museum Library, which they discovered last semester. “I appreciate a quiet space on campus to decompress before or after class,” they say.
This summer, Gutiérrez plans to conduct a research and film project in their parents’ home village. Michoacán leads Mexico’s avocado export industry, creating a sharp contrast between industrial companies, rural farming traditions, and Indigenous land practices, Gutiérrez says. They are hoping to archive stories, songs and traditions “to create an archive of brown joy” of their family’s history and resistance to colonial violence.
From the Class of 1923 Arena, where figure skater Gloria Lee likes to practice, to Makuu: the Black Cultural Center, where math TA Abdul-Rakeem Yakubu holds office hours, to the behavioral sciences section of Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center, where Emma Ronzetti escapes to, these students picks offer a sense of calm, or in some cases, inspiration.