Presidential Scholars Program

When I went to college, I thought I would become a teacher. Having grown up bilingual, I was interested in how language dynamics play out in the classroom and how cultural identities shape our educational journeys. But, more importantly at the time, I wanted to travel. And so I did. Throughout college, I spent my summers participating in study abroad programs in Spain, France, and Ecuador. While on campus, I ran a multicultural afterschool program for elementary school students. This combination of curiosities for diverse peoples, cultures, and ways of living led to an undergraduate concentration in Romance Languages and Literatures at Harvard, with a focus on Spanish Civil War exiles and the effects of migration and language acquisition throughout childhood as represented in literature and poetry. 

 

When I graduated, I moved to Madrid on a Fulbright scholarship and spent two years as an English Teaching Assistant in a public, bilingual middle and high school. During the summers, I worked at an international school in Istanbul. On the weekends, I traveled all around Spain and Europe. Spending time living and working abroad solidified my desire to continue my research in graduate school. So in 2016, I moved to Providence to start the PhD program in Hispanic Studies at Brown. I eventually wrote a dissertation on contemporary Colombian literature and film, with a particular interest in how stories of childhood trauma complicate our understanding of the 2016 signing of peace accords in Colombia, which were seen to signal the end of the decades-long internal armed conflict. 

 

After finishing graduate school, I felt ready for a change of pace. I became the Program Manager for Research, Evaluation, and Professional Development at the Modern Language Association. In this role, I developed a variety of professional development opportunities for graduate students, faculty, and higher education staff in language and literature fields. While I really enjoyed my role, I missed working with students, which is what brought me back to Brown! In my free time, I enjoy quality time at home with my cats, Muffin and Millie, as well as baking, karaoke, and hiking trails around New England.