Born and raised in Las Cruces, New Mexico, I spent my impressionable years learning and growing in an ethnically diverse, financially depressed, and warm-hearted town. Spending every other week in elementary school speaking Spanish to attending my friend’s marvelous quinceañeras, I have shaped a worldview that understands financially deprived groups, the importance of a mother language, and what good Mexican food tastes like. My academic interests in policy and politics blossomed in my high school government class. When I was young, I was fixated on a career in the medical field, bouncing from a nurse to a doctor every other day. And when I learned about public health, I knew I could combine the medical world, helping people, and government policy. I also have a deep passion for the environment, and I want to blend that into my public health goals. Because everything around us, including the water we drink, the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the home we live in, has an effect on our health, I am enthusiastic about working toward making policy changes for the greater good.
Leadership
There is not just one designated set of strengths leaders have; we all come with different abilities and outlooks. My set of strengths includes includer, woo, communication, positivity, and significance. These themes fall under the category of influencing, which many leaders do not fall under. As an outlier, my value as a team member comes with many valuable contributions. I can be the extra voice for my team when we need our ideas heard; I can help our team reach a bigger audience while making sure everyone in the group is heard and encouraged. Moreover, my ability to communicate well, bring people together, and see the big picture can improve a team. My two skills that do not fall under influencing- includer, and positivity- go into relationship building, and I can also be the one who takes a group of contrasting individuals and make it a well-oiled machine. Teamwork comes with balance and being able to identify my skills and my colleagues’ skills, creating better products.
