"Frida Kahlo"

Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo  y Calderon, as her name appears in her birth certificate, was born July 6, 1907. This was in a small town in the outskirts of Mexico City. Her father, Guillermo Kahlo, was from Pforzheim, Germany and her mother, Matilde Calderon y Gonzalez, was of Spanish decendence. The Mexican Revolution began in 1910, when Frida was 3; later she claimed she was born in 1910 so she could be associated with the revolution. At that time, Kahlo lived in an extremely poor town and in her writings she explained that her mother would feed the revolutionaries from time to time. In 1910, Kahlo contracted polio at the age of 6, which left her right leg thinner than the left. In 1922, when Kahlo was 15, she joined a gang in her school and witnessed violent armed struggles in the of Mexico City as the revolution continued. On September 17, 1925, Frida was 18, she was involved in and accident, where a train hit the bus she was riding. After the accident she turned her attention away from the study of medicine and began her full time painting career. Kahlo created at least 140 paintings, along with dozens and studies. Of  her paintings, 55 are self-portraits which often incorporate symbolic portrayals of physical and psychological wounds. She explained that she painted herself, because she was often alone and she was the subject she knew best. Drawing on her personal experiences including: her marriage, her miscarriages and her numerous operations. Frida's work was deeply influences by indigenous Mexican Culture, which is apparent in her use of bright colors and dramatic symbolism. A few days before Frida Kahlo died. on July 13, 1954 she wrote in her diary "i hope the exit is joyful-and i hope to never return"

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     I'm Denise Ochoa. I went to Socorro High School in El Paso. I was in a medical program called 

the Health Professions Academy. I joined that program because when i was in middle school the program directors came to talk to us about it. My freshman year was a boring year all we would do in class was learn medical terms. When sophmore year started we began to learn medical procedures such as, bed making, taking blood pressure, bathing patients and we got our CPR certification. All of my junior year I spent it visiting hospitals and assisting the nurses on whatever duties where needed. When my senior year started I joined the Dental Assisting program and I decided that since I had the opportunity to get my certification I did not need to go to college. But as my senior year progressed my brother convinced me that I should go to school. He started talking to me about Blinn and i decided that i wanted to study Dental Hygiene. Later closer to graduation I decided that instead I wanted to join the ARMY ]. I decide that  because i got into a huge fight with my brother over a tattoo and he told me that he did not want me here anymore. Everyone in my family was so shocked and they where all trying to convince me to just stay in El Paso and to later try to apply to UTEP. After all the struggle i ended up in College Station living with my brother and his friend.