As a child, my parents instilled the values of hard-work and self-reliance, but they also firmly cemented the idea that “no man is an island.” Throughout my childhood and adolescence, I learned to study and do well in school, but I was also taught that in order to become a well-rounded individual, I must give back to the very community that has shaped the person I have become. Since graduating from Florida International University, where I double majored in English and Women’s Studies, I have become a teacher for the Miami-Dade County Public School system teaching 7th grade Language Arts at Miami Springs Middle School. In this arena, I believe that I have begun my journey in addressing my responsibility of helping others, as well as, instilling the importance of education in the 167 students I teach. In pursuing a Master in Public Administration at Florida International University, I would be achieving various life-long goals that I have had since my youth- goals which have both, education and philanthropy, at their very core.
As a middle school student, I was accepted into the Breakthrough Miami (formerly Summerbridge Miami) program, where I was taught to pursue life long goals in the realm of education, as well as, the philanthropic. Throughout the three summers I attended the program, I took high school and college preparatory classes, which sparked my love for women’s issues that, in turn, led me to pursue the major in college. As part of the nonprofit organization’s summer schedules, I took part in picking up the beaches and neighborhoods of our community. We also volunteered at the Little Havana Activities Center, where we divided our time volunteering with the elderly and the younger children in their daycare program. This passed summer, I was given the opportunity to come full circle and work on the administrative team as the Operations Coordinator of the