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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Old Westbury chapter.

If you don’t know Selena Quintanilla is an American singer, songwriter, model, actress, and fashion designer. She was born on April 16, 1971 in Lake Jackson, Texas and passed on March 31, 1995. The cause of her death was a gunshot wound caused by her former manager.

With so much success and a humble attitude, combined with her adventurous lifestyle, Quintanilla was guaranteed to leave an everlasting impression on our hearts. Even without meeting her or watching the movie, which isn’t completely accurate, you can sense the genuine legacy she left behind.

Just recently she was given a star on the Hollywood walk of fame, which I believe she deserved a long time ago. Hundreds of people, family, friends, and adoring fans from all over, came down to show their love and support at the unveiling ceremony.

Her sister, Suzette, ended her speech with one of Selena’s famous quotes “the impossible is possible. The goal isn’t to live forever, but to create something that does”. She did that, years later she still has adoring fans and still more people becoming fans.

More recently there’s a children’s book just published about Selena called “The Life of/ La Vida De Selena” by Patty Rodriguez and Ariana Stein. It is a bilingual book about Selena’s love of pizza, familia and her fans. Selena influenced both these writers all throughout their childhood.

In an interview both of the writers spoke about how their siblings danced and sang to Selena’s music and how they connected with others while enjoying the music. This is something very relatable to many people all around the world.

Growing up I used to wake up early in the morning and the first thing I would hear was Selena’s music. As soon as I walked out of my room my mom would be dancing and cleaning without a care in the world. So I would join too. To this day at birthday parties and graduations my family blasts music and there is always at least 5-6 songs of Selena’s being played. All my friends and people I grew up with listen to her music too. Her legacy will live on, and will for many generations.

 

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Jessinta Smith

Old Westbury

Jessinta is a Media and Communications major at SUNY Old Westbury, and has written for varying outlets including Out.com and StudyBreaks. She edits, writes, and is CC for HCOW, and discusses everything from mental health to politics. To see more of her work or get in contact with her, visit jessintawrites.wordpress.com.