I came to George Mason as a freshman out-of-state student from Miami, Florida in the Fall of 2014 where I would be starting my journey in a new location, not knowing a single person and without having seen all the four seasons. Within the first week, I found my group of extraordinary friends and started to become more active on campus. During my first year away, I lived in a quad, four girls to a room, where one of them still to this day, is my very best friend. Living in such close quarters with three people and sharing a bathroom with your floor taught me how to be mindful and more aware of people’s way of living; that compromises and flexibility must be part of the process in developing yourself, the first of many lessons I learned whilst away at college.

Ever since my sophomore year of high school I was interested in the field of biology and after doctors weren’t able to save my grandmother because of a misdiagnosis, I set out a goal to become a physician and do what they could not. I took Cell Structure and Function my first semester to begin my process of learning: why and how does the body do what it does. Along with this, I took chemistry classes to understand the properties of matter and how they relate to biology. My advisor at the time encouraged me to take a non-science class to broaden my educational horizons, so I signed up for a history course where after two months, I declared it as my minor. Having a fantastic professor and being taught in different ways than high school opened up new subjects of interest to me. Still on the track to biology, I was exploring history and all the past has to teach us. The next part of self development I experienced was to immerse myself in classes, subjects and programs I was unfamiliar with. The purpose of this was to appreciate how being in a different place can change your perspective on what and how you take in information. After discovering new classes and learning more about myself, I found a passion for public speaking when I joined the Mason Ambassador program my sophomore year of college and from there, looked for ways to spread my loud but impactful voice. One way I did this was join a survey course where heavy debate and discussion are pertinent to the course.

My junior year of college is where everything flipped; I had a revelation that my purpose revolved around being an advocate for change rather than becoming a doctor with a scalpel. So, I changed my major from biology to social justice and human rights where immediately I noticed a difference in how happy I was learning this new material. A huge part of discovering myself is dedicated to the LEAD Office at George Mason University where here I learned that my values guide my life and being an ethical leader takes dedication and resilience.  Ever since, I have flourished in this field with an immediate interest in the rights for individuals with intellectual disorders and implementing policies that ensure higher education is obtainable for such persons.