Growing up, I always enjoyed math. It was fun to solve these puzzles and figure out what I can create with a set of given rules. In addition to this passion, I also enjoyed playing the piano, a requirement for many children of immigrant parents. By the time I entered high school, I had decided I was going to major in math and music… with no plan for what I would do after college. However, two crucial things happened my senior year: I took AP Environmental Science (APES) and I music directed a show for the first time.

After taking APES, I knew that I had to combine math and environmental science somehow, but I wasn’t sure how. I took on a motto: “help someone or something, somewhere.” This led me on a 4-year journey into carbon cycle dynamics, oceanography, and population dynamics, until I ended up in the world of infectious disease modeling. After music directing, I realized that this was how to keep my creative skills alive while being in community with others. I ditched the music major and doubled in mathematics and environmental science.

Graduate school was not a clear step to me until my third year of college. As a child of Mexican immigrants, I rarely saw myself represented in the mentors and professors I had. Though I am eternally grateful to everyone that helped guide me down this path, I am really passionate about the communities I’m a part of and I hope to be the mentor that my younger self wanted.

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