Daily Inspiration: Meet Ashley Yanet Castillo

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley Yanet Castillo.

Hi Ashley, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My story started when I was young. I saw many of the struggles my parents, family, and friends faced every single day. Being the first generation child of immigrant parents, who were at the time, undocumented, we faced more struggles than the average person. All I knew is that I wanted a career where I could do something for all the communities I was part of. Civic engagement has been something I was passionate about from the get-go.

So, when I found out about the opportunity to join the Students Demand Action Summer Leadership Academy, of course, I felt the need to grasp it before it got away. My experience truly laid out the foundation for me to begin my journey with advocacy and politics. From there, I started my Students Demand Action Chapter at my high school, Hollywood High, encouraging my peers to be civically engaged and take part in making the changes they wanted to see.

Everything then truly started kicking off after the tragedy that occurred in Uvalde, Texas at Robb Elementary. I was utterly heartbroken hearing we had yet another shooting, bringing back the resembling feelings I felt as a child after hearing about the massacre that took place at Sandy Hook Elementary. I have been affected by gun violence my entire life — I always compare it to a shadow. It has always seemed to linger, and just when I think it’s finally behind me, it finds some way to remind me it’s still there, and it still exists.

In Elementary, middle, and especially high school, there were always threats or lockdowns, and just recently, a swatting at my high school. And unfortunately, it’s often left to the victims to take action. So, when I was asked by Students Demand Action to plan and partake in a national walkout in less than 24 hours, I could’ve gone with the easy choice and said no, but I knew that at this time, we needed community more than ever.

The week before Uvalde, we had a gun threat on our very own campus. So we all knew that familiar feeling of fearing for your life, just trying to make it home. That’s why we all came together. The sight of hundreds of students yelling, chanting, having made signs, and deciding that enough was enough, brought tears to my eyes. Truly – I was so overwhelmed with pride in my classmates and staff members, that I could barely form sentences. The walkout then caught the attention of the media.

I was doing interviews over the phone all day and was reached out to by many important people. Later on, I was invited to Senator Alex Padilla’s Community Leaders Roundtable, to participate in a TwitterSpace conversation with Melissa Gomez from the LA Times, on the podcast iGen Politics with Victor Shi and Jill-Wine Banks accompanied by the incredible Shannon Watts, and to Governor Gavin Newsom’s Senate Bill 1327 signing. My chapter grew from its small and mighty 8 members, to over 30.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Of course, getting to this point wasn’t easy — not in the slightest. It was difficult at first, to hear and see the comments certain people would make. Of course, California is a very democratic state, however, there will always be those few who don’t see eye to eye with you. Learning to overcome comments and threats was just the beginning.

From there, it was learning the art of compromise. Some individuals agreed with the overall idea, yet disagree with the methods. One extremist from my school even decided to create an entire Instagram account, dedicated to retaliating against me, and the organization I represented, and hosted their walkout to “rebel”. This was one of my biggest hurdles because I was already having an extremely difficult time not only continuing to process what had occurred in Uvalde but with the question — what more can I do? Because I don’t feel I’m doing enough.

Another one of the biggest things I learned was time management. Being a full-time student, an advocate, a researcher, a theatre kid (who participated in every production), and a very civically engaged individual — I always tried to take on as much as I could chew. It was a lot to juggle at once. Of course, I only do things that I love and enjoy doing, if I had no passion for it, I’d see no purpose in doing it. The only issue is that everything I loves doing just happened to be so time-consuming.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
What I’m most known for is my volunteer work with the Students Demand Action and Everytown For Gun Safety, where I have been advocating against gun violence, particularly in schools, for over two years. I am also the group leader (president) and founder of Hollywood High’s chapter of Students Demand Action.

I also stay civically engaged in a variety of other ways. I’m pre-registered to vote, have worked as a poll worker, hosted voter registration drives, registered people to vote through the organization Headcount, and have been part of multiple Youth Advisory Boards including Mayor Garcetti’s, LAUSD Nick Melvoin’s for District 4, and Legacy las.

However, when I’m not spending my time in politics, you can usually find me in the lab or typing away on my computer, as I consider myself an avid researcher. Mainly, I’ve focused on the link between substance abuse and neurodegeneration, a topic that is very personal to me, as my father struggles with alcoholism. I’ve taken on a few internships and mentorship programs, learning how to improve my craft when it comes to neuroscience, which is why I’m going to be working towards obtaining a dual concentration in political science and neuroscience next year in university.

Many people consider my combination of majors to be odd, as they’re two completely different fields of science, and I believe that’s what makes me stand out. I love so many different things and have so many different goals. I consider myself ambitious and will go after anything I have my mind set on. So, no matter how different the two worlds seem, it isn’t impossible. And I’ll be an example of that.

What does success mean to you?
I define success as having a life where you are content with your choices. Success does not have a clear-cut definition. There is no guaranteed formula to calculate success, as that is different for everyone. Personally, when I picture success for myself, I see myself ultimately having a family and being a mother, continuing to do research in neuroscience and CRISPR technology, being a politician and fighting to do justice to my constituents who I’d represent and continue participating in my family business.

However, throughout my life, I’ve seen multiple examples of success that I’ve admired and looked up to. When you’re passionate about a subject, and people can see your eyes light up as you’re delving into your craft, even if you’re just speaking about it — that’s a success.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @ashleyyanetcastillo
• Twitter: @ashleyyanetc
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashley-yanet-castillo-aba376212/
• Other: https://studentsdemandaction.org/latinx-heritage-month-is-a-time-to-empower-young-voices/