By Rachelle Youngman
Daily Forty-Niner
The Cal State Long Beach community lost one of its own when 26-year-old Roxana Rivera’s car skidded off the road and into a ditch in Carbondale, Ill. on Nov. 21 cutting her life tragically short.
Roxana, who earned her bachelor’s degrees from CSULB in women’s studies and English in 2002, was working on her master’s degree in English writing at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, about two hours north of St. Louis, Miss.
“She wanted to get her master’s. She wanted to be published and she wanted to write a compellation of short stories,” Brenda Rivera, Roxana’s 23-year-old sister said.
“She was full of great ideas for reaching out to the campus and community at large,” Marcela Chavez, director of the Women’s Resource Center said.
Roxana was very active at CSULB and the surrounding community. She was involved in numerous programs such as Movimiento Estdiantil de Teatro y Arte, or META, the Pre-Collegiate Academic Development Program at Jordan and Wilson High schools in which she helped students to improve their writing. She also volunteered with the Sexual Assault Crises Agency and the Women’s Expressions, through the Women’s Resource Center and was active in the English department.
“Roxana was an extraordinary young woman who brought so much joy, energy and love to the Women’s Resource Center,” Chavez said. “She came in to volunteer one day, and never left until she graduated.”
Laura Clavaran, who employed Roxana at her law office, said Roxana was excellent at intervention and handling her clients’ crisis’s and questions.
“She had a sincerity. She took interest in peoples’ crisis’s and affairs. She genuinely cared about people.” Clavaran said. “She was very committed to doing a great job and she never settled for second best.”
Not only was Roxana involved in many programs and organizations, but she was also passionate about her writing and poetry which explored various topics including family, Hispanic culture and sex.
“She was very proud to be Chicana. We had the Mexican and American and she used that a lot in her poetry,” Brenda said. “We also come from a very big family . . . and we’re very close. I think that has a lot to do with her writing.”
Roxana began writing at the age of 13. “Someone gave her a journal — like a diary — and she started writing in it,” Brenda said. “Then all of a sudden it became short stories based on little things we would do. She was very imaginative.”
Roxana used her talent in poetry and writing to reach out to reach out to other people. In Carbondale she was involved in the Saluki Poetry Project which encourages second to fifth grade children to express themselves with the use of poetry.
As part of Hispanic Heritage Month this year, Roxana read her poetry at Southern Illinois University’s Poetry Night. The article in the school’s newspaper, the Daily Egyptian, read, “The audience asked her to perform more poems, and many stood to applaud her poetical expressions. Several students approached Rivera for an autograph after her performance and saying they knew she would be famous one day.”
Roxana was accepted into the master’s programs at both Arizona and Florida State University, but Illinois gave her the best package, Brenda said. In the same article from the Daily Egyptian Roxana commented on her choice.
“If you ask me why I came to SIUC there are three main factors,” Roxana said. “The Crab Tree Orchard Literary Magazine, Allison Joseph, a poet and professor, and the fact that it’s 1,000 miles away from home, which gives me a change when I write.”
Roxana also took a great deal of interest in women’s issues.
“She was devoted to advancing the status of women in a positive way.” Claveran said.
“Roxana was the epitome of a beautifully committed young feminist in today’s world of rough reality.” Chavez said.
Brenda said she remembers her sister’s devotion to achieving a higher education and how inspiring that was.
“She was really about learning and how far it would take you. More than anything she taught me to keep on going in school,” Brenda said. “And it didn’t matter if I had an accident or didn’t speak the correct English as long as I expressed what I felt. That was the important part.”
Friends and family have expressed so much sadness over Roxana’s death. However, beyond all of the sadness, memories of her accomplishments and they way she was bring smiles to their faces.
“She was a wonderful person, very positive and very energetic. She was very bright and very ambitions,” Clavaran said. “It’s so sad, such a big loss but her energy and her dreams live on. We can’t let them die.”
“Roxana walked the talk and was a true model and inspiration for others; she was unique,” Chavez said. “I miss her so much.”
