Biography

Marina Aina (she/her) is a mixed-race Sāmoan woman who grew up on Cahuilla and Luiseño land in Southern California. She completed her undergraduate studies at Pomona College, receiving her B.A. in American Studies. She strives to better understand how American militarism impacts Pasifika peoples (and more specifically how pervasive the militarization of American Sāmoa is for Sāmoans, both on and off the islands). In her free time, she enjoys trying new foods, reminiscing about media from her childhood, watching anime (or claiming she will get around to it), and seeing more movies to improve her odds at winning Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. She will be starting her first year in the Asian American M.A. program fall of 2023, so she hopes to add exploring UCLA’s campus (to reduce the chance of getting lost) to the list of things to do during her free time.