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~I love doing arts and crafts in my free time! I especially love working with oil pastels and acrylic paint! Ceramics is one of my favorite activities to destress!
~I love gardening! My father and I built our own greenhouse, despite having limited space.
~Discussing politics is something I enjoy doing. It definitely gets mentally draining at times, but it truly is a guilty pleasure.
~HOROSCOPES!!!!
~I would love to describe myself with a music genre but I am all over the place. If y'all have recommendations, I will enjoy mostly everything:)

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I have had very diverse experiences throughout my educational trajectory!

My journey began with pre-school, attending Bay School in Carmel. I would say that preschool did more that introduce me to and prepare me for school. As the only student who did not speak any English, and one of the few students of color and low-income background, I had a difficult time making friends and liking school. I did not feel comfortable and I encountered experiences that initially, made me reject school.

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I moved to Salinas to begin with elementary school at attended Santa Rita Elementary school. I felt more comfortable with my transition to that district. I definitely felt more comfortable to meet students who looked like me and who spoke Spanish. I began my ELD classes here but struggled vastly to make progress in my English language acquisition.

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It was not until middle school that I really made progress learning English. Still, I struggled because most of my friends were English learners as well. We were for the most part the oldest child in our families and had little to no practice speaking English at Home. I attended Gavilan View Middle school for sixth grade.

In seventh grade, financial and personal hardships forced my family to move to Castroville. I attended North Monterey County High School. This was when I began to make more progress with my English. I did not want to be more trouble for my parents and I knew I had to put more effort to improve my academics. I practiced with my teachers and found out I really enjoyed my history classes. Reading history books and writing history essays became pivotal to my progress. I was reclassified as English proficient and eventually graduated as my middle school's Valedictorian.

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High school was where I really became to understand problems in our educational system. I did not know how to name them then, but I was fortunate to access my first college classes through college preparation programs. At this stage, I was already doing great with English and ELD classes were no longer necessary. I pushed myself to take AP and honors courses. I had the support of my teachers, academic coordinators, and many college preparation programs like AVID, Upward Bound, EAOP, Advanced Placement, and MESA. Once again, I became my school's Valedictorian.

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I am a proud Golden Bear and Banana Slug. I obtained my B.A. in Chicano Studies and minored in Education! I earned my M.A. in Education.

In my community of Castroville, I am involved in our LULAC Council, the Castroville Coalition, and the Andy Ausonio Castroville Library. I would love to say I started sooner, but it was until I was in college that I truly got involved in the community. I am a tutor for the adult education, citizenship program, and volunteer in the homework center, tutoring K-12 students at my local library.