About

Hi there! I'm originally from Puerto Rico. Here's my life story in a nutshell. As the daughter of a U.S. Air Force physician, I lived on military air bases until I was 18 years old. Most of that time was spent living overseas in many different countries. For example, I lived in Panama, the Philippines, Spain, and Turkey, and, along with my family, I visited many other countries, such as Costa Rica, Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Korea, Portugal, Greece, Italy, and France.

 

I’ve learned that when we let our true selves shine, we light up our respective spaces with sparks of our uniqueness. And the tiny sparks of our true self can create incredible possibilities for our paths. Let me explain.

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Growing up, I felt I had to be a doctor, just like my father, and that I had to major or specialize in the hard sciences. I was not listening to my true self. I was going along following the crowd and not trying to be different. I was not paying attention to what inspired me: colors, fashion, music, clothing, hairstyles, nail polish, patterns, textures, friendships, animals, the beach, or writing. I was ignoring qualities about myself, characteristics that are inherent to me that are important in any professional setting, personality traits such as sensitivity, empathy, ability to listen, or my ability to walk in other people’s shoes.

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So, moving on. I followed the crowd. I went to college, got a bachelor’s degree in biomedical sciences and a master’s degree in animal sciences. I landed a job at the University of Florida and spent some years as an academic and research coordinator. Then, it clicked. Most of the work that I had been doing was related to communications and marketing. There it was. The ability for me to let my true self shine was always there.

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However, I was more focused on thinking that following the crowd (i.e., being a doctor, scientist, etc.) was better instead of thinking that what made me different quite possibly could be better than better.

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I enrolled as a post-baccalaureate student at the University of Florida’s College of Journalism and Communications, taking undergraduate journalism and public relations courses.  Then, in 2020, I took it one step further and started a master’s degree in public interest communications at the University of Florida, the sister to public relations. I am on schedule to complete the degree in Fall 2024.

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