I was born and raised in Baltimore, MD. I am a biracial (white and Latinx), queer woman who during early education and most of middle school (up to 8th grade) attended private, catholic schools which were predominantly white and middle-class in its student, faculty, and staff populations. I struggled to find the relevance of my education to my life outside school and would not complete assignments because of that disconnect. For high school, I attended a predominantly black, public, STEM-focused institution. It was during those four years that I began to understand the context of education within life, as I was a part of an advanced math and science program that provided the privilege of AP classes to ‘above average’ students. These students, including myself, did not reflect the demographics of the rest of the school. Of the approximately 25 students in my grade level within this program, there were 3 Black students and 2 Latinx students (including myself). I went to college at an R1, Hispanic-serving institution in Southern Arizona on a scholarship I received based on my race and my PSAT scores. This was one of the first times I had been recognized for my scholarship because of my race. As someone who is often denied half of my racial identity due to being white passing and unable to fluently speak Spanish, I felt validated.

​

​

​

​

​

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I became interested in engineering education because of a professor I had during my second year for an introductory Chemical Engineering class. He was a passionate instructor who took the time to learn our names before the semester began. At the beginning of every class, he would post a news story or an internship opportunity to ground chemical engineering in the world. At the end of the semester, he asked me to email him about what aspects of his class helped me succeed as a Hispanic woman so that he could work on the components that did not support my learning. I later went on to work with him in three positions: a preceptor, a classroom manager, and a research technician before starting as a Ph.D. student in engineering education.

​