best friend have told me that my sculptures look like me, I decided to include a picture from my collection. You'll be able to
get an idea of what I look like.....well, without the glossy finish, or red/white and blue shirt, that is!
Academic & Life Resume
* Born "..a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away," ..oh wait, that's a different story! ... Never mind.
* Graduated from high school, too long ago to want to remember....
I was not a very special student, and always maintained a C average gpa. Whatever talents I had, was
only recognized by my grandparents.
* 1982.... To current date.
Employed in numerous jobs, including forestry worker, house cleaner, nanny, production line worker, security guard,
receptionist, office and data entry clerk, personal office assistant for various top level managers within such corporations as
NASA, H.P., IBM, and the most fun job I held was at NAMCO, the creators of Pac Man, and other video games. Currently
employed at Microsoft, but don't blame me for this because it pays the rent!
* De Anza Community College
While enrolled part time in school, I continued to work 40 hours a week.
Graduated with an A.A., Magna Cum Laude in Intercultural Studies.
Was a member of Phi Theta Kappa, an International Honor?s society for Junior Colleges.
Was on the Dean's list.
* San Jose State University
Entered as a part time student, while also maintaining a 40 hour work week.
Gold Key International Honor Society, an International Honor's society for upper level Universities.
Was honored as a Dean's Scholar for maintaining a high GPA.
Received a BA in Humanaties in May of 2004.
* Life goals - not necessarily in this order...
To have some of my art work shown at the Heard Museum, to have my name on the NY Times best sellers
list for a fictional novel or a Pulitzer prize in literature, hey, might as well dream big! &;-)
To receive a Masters degree from San Jose State University and then a Ph.D from Stanford.
What does all of this mean? Not much really. Just that I found myself filled with a thirst for knowledge later than many
college bound students. As a reentry student, I found that I had the advantage of life lessons which enable me to excel in my
classes. Thankfully, I was also introduced to a wonderful professor, Carolyn Wilkens-Green, whom I consider to be my
catalyst for learning. Had it not been for her Intercultural courses, I would have never realized my own potential as a political
activist.
I grew up as many Chicana/Native Americans do, in a poor family who didn't even have a pot to piss in! As for my writing, I
remember writing from the time that I was child. Although my parents never encouraged or praised my writing, I was blessed
with a grandmother who always listened to my stories, and who, in turn, would tell me tales of our wondrous cultural heritage
of Mestizo and Native American ancestors.
While my parents may have made many mistakes, owing to the fact that they were married when they were barely 16 and 18,
I do have to give them kudo's on one particular rule which they held, and that was that we could read anything that we
desired. There was no censorship of any kind, which resulted in my excelled reading level. I remember reading Bradbury,
Ellison, and Hugo when other kids were still reading Nancy Drew mysteries. I believe that it was the "no censorship toward
books" rule which allowed me to cultivate my imagination at an early age.
I first began to share and develope my skills in the early 80's by writing Star Trek Fan Fiction. After time, I grew tired of the
politics involved within fandom, and began to write lesbian short stories. I've been very honored to have been published in
several lesbian anthologies during this time.
I thought that I was finished with writing fan fiction, but at the end of one of my favorite shows, Xena Warrior Princess, I took up
the pen to write a story for my best friend, who was deeply upset by the way the show ended. To prove to her that the Star Trek
phenomena could be carried over to Xena, I began to write stories about our two hero's. As I've told many people, like in S.T.,
Xena isn't over until the fan fic writers/fans say it is over. With any luck, I'll be proven right and will be able see the show's
momentum growing even though it was cancelled, just as Star Trek did.
But is this all I write? No, as anyone who has looked at my site will see, I write many styles of short stories. As of lately, I've been
taken with the style of narrative story telling. Thankfully, my grandmother provided me with many stories rich in cultural history, so
I won't be out of material for many years.
My reasons for creating this web page is simple. After seeing hundreds of pages created for Fan Fiction writers, and very few for
original works of fiction, I decided to make a space where artists of all forms could showcase their work, and in the process, I too
could showcase my writing and artwork to anyone who may be interested in seeing what I've created.
With this said, I hope you all enjoy my little corner of the world wide web, and if you're a writer, poet or artist, of original works,
please do consider submitting to my site! And don't forget to sign my guest book that is located at www.charani.org!
Thank you,
~ Crystal Michallet-Romero ~
updated: 5/19/04
