I am very excited and honored to be highlighted by the Department of Spanish and Portuguese! I graduated with highest distinction and honors from Indiana University, Bloomington in 2021 with a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish and International Studies. Following graduation, I joined Flora Legal Group as a Bilingual Immigration Paralegal, where I provided legal support to the firm’s court-based immigration area, managed a voluminous caseload of clients, and helped asylum seekers and undocumented immigrants obtain legal permanent residency (green cards), driver’s licenses, and social security cards. I also worked to keep families together.

In 2022, I was awarded a Fulbright-García Robles English Teaching Assistant grant through COMEXUS and spent the 2022-2023 academic year teaching English at the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Quintana Roo, in Chetumal, Mexico, located in Mexico’s lush Yucatán Peninsula. During my Fulbright grant, I volunteered with a community-organized queer collective called “Queertana Roo” and supported their event planning of safe queer spaces.  

After another rigorous and competitive selection process, I was selected by COMEXUS to return to Mexico for another academic year as an English Teaching Assistant Mentor. I will have the honor to continue educating Mexican students about the U.S. that I love—like how our country is multicultural and linguistically rich, our various regional cuisines, and Indiana’s affinity to fry anything in sight (fried mushrooms, fried Oreos, and fried pork tenderloin sandwiches). I will also be responsible for 10-12 first year ETAs and support them as they adjust to the wonderfully exciting chaos that is Mexico during the duration of their grants. I am especially excited to be placed in Central Mexico and be able to further witness the vast diversity that Mexico has to offer.