The end of a journey is only the beginning for Marilyn Flores, a former Skyline College student. She has continued her film studies at San Francisco State and will be turning in her short film thesis this May to hopefully graduate in the Fall of 2018.

Marilyn Flores was born in El Salvador but her educational options to achieve her dreams were limited, leaving her to come along with her father to study film in the Bay Area.

Marilyn had always been interested in photography and with her creative personality she hoped one day to be able to merge those skills. Before moving to the United States, she was a communications major because it was the closest thing that could possibly lead her into the film industry back home.

While living in El Salvador, she had the chance to be involved in television programming, and even though television is different from film and cinema, it helped her to experience the feeling of working with cameras and gave her the capacity to admire the depth that an image can have.

With the knowledge of how much of an effect an image can have, Marilyn took a photography class at Skyline but wanted to merge the work of cameras with images and scripts to tell meaningful, real stories.

For her thesis, Marilyn had the challenge of creating a film of her own. Her goal was to create an original story, with her own cast, and be able to direct and edit the film to eventually show.

Even though Flores encountered a few bumps in the road in the creation of her thesis film, such as trusting herself, her peers and friends who volunteered to work with her and help out, she admitted that she actively tried to create a welcoming environment for everyone.

“Trusting that I can do the best job that I can do,” said Flores. “At the end, you end up (with) the best job you could do and end up happy.”

Alejandro Esquivias who has been friends with Flores for many years now, described her as a mentor, as well as a good advice giver, someone who cares enough to help you see the real struggles will help you get out of your own bubble.

Esquivias’ relationship with Flores has been constant throughout the years they’ve known each other because of their great connection and similar sense of humor.

“She is really honest and tells you what she thinks. Not in a harsh way, but she doesn’t sugarcoat it,” said Esquivias.

Her short film titled, “Dream Little Astronaut” is about a little girl from Latin America who wants to become an astronaut and moves with her parents to the United States and even though moving opens up new doors and opportunities for her, it is not easy. It is shot from the perspective of the immigrant girl and her struggles in the pursuit of her dream. As an immigrant herself, Flores wanted to stay true to the experiences that children who don’t hope to move to the United States go through.

Marilyn is no ordinary woman. Her next goal is to make more documentaries and independent movies, in the future. She aspires to continue to tell and share the stories of real people, and to be able to shine light into the shadows where many have been living.