As a first year Ph.D. student, with the guidance of Dr. Kathleen Myers, Dr. Rhi Johnson, Dr. Ryan Giles, and Dr. Steven Wagschal, I have deepened my research interest by creating a Ph.D. exam list centered on the use of Santa Teresa de Jesús as a model for Spanish women writers from the 16^th to the 21^st century. Following the steps of advanced graduate students in the department, I have presented at Syracuse University’s Romance Languages Symposium, at Diálogos XX, at KFLC, and at the 58^th International Congress on Medieval Studies. At this last conference, my paper, “Siervo libre de amor: Rodríguez del Padrón’s Vita Nova,” was selected as the winner of the third annual Nancy F. Marino Award for best essay in Hispanomedieval Studies.

During my time at IU, I have truly enjoyed being involved in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese. Last semester, I worked at the Lilly Library as a research assistant for Dr. Olimpia Rosenthal and continued to be part of the First Thursday Festival Organizing Committee with Dr. Laura Gurzynski-Weiss and Dr. César Félix-Brasdefer. This semester, I have had the honor of working as a graduate assistant for both Dr. Myers and Dr. Félix-Brasdefer, to be part of the Graduate Mentoring Committee, and to be invited as a guest speaker on teaching strategies at the Professionalization Workshop Series. Lastly, I have had the opportunity to continue following my passion for foreign language instruction by being a Spanish tutor in the department.

As I start my second doctoral year with receiving the Doctoral Student Award for Academic Achievement, I look forward to serving as co-chair of GSAC and to continue working on my dissertation with mentors that inspire me to become a Spanish professor. I am so thankful to all the Literature professors in the department, who have always been at my side, and to Anne-Sophie Stringer who has been helping me keep up my French.