Education

I graduated from UC Berkeley in May 2020 with a 3.8 GPA. I obtained a B.A. in Global Studies (track in Development Studies, area of expertise in the Americas) with a minor in Human Rights. These are some of the courses I took at UC Berkeley that contributed the most to my sense of direction in both the worlds of academia and practice:

Spring 2020

• • The Beauty and Joy of Computing (CS 10)

  • Border Geographies, Migration and Decolonial Movements of Latin America (GEOG 167AC)

  • Indigenous Issues Across the Americas (NATAMST 105)

  • Critical Thinking In Global Studies (GLOBAL 102)

Fall 2019

• • Development and the Environment (IAS 150)

  • The Biosphere (ESPM 2)

  • Critical Native American Legal and Policy Studies (NATAMST 102)

Spring 2019

• • Latin America In Global Context (GLOBAL 100L)

  • Who Killed Che? : The Right Wing in Modern Latin America (HISTORY 103E)

  • Human Rights, Research & Practice (LEGALST 154)

  • Ethics and Justice in International Affairs (POL SCI 124C)

Fall 2018: Studied abroad

Summer 2018

• • International Environmental Politics (ESPM 169)

Spring 2018

• • Global Development: Theory, History, Geography (GLOBAL 100D)

  • Readings in Portuguese (PORTUG 102)

Fall 2017

• • Introduction to Development (DEV STD C10)

  • Intensive Portuguese for Spanish Speakers (PORTUG 50)

Spring 2017

• • Introduction to Peace and Conflict Studies (PACS 10)

Fall 2016

• • Introduction to Culture and Natural Resource Management (ESPM 50AC)

  • English Composition in Connection with the Reading of World Literature (COMLIT R1B)

In the Fall of 2018 I studied abroad in Buenos Aires, Argentina and Santiago, Chile as part of the UCEAP's Human Rights and Cultural Memory Program. I greatly enjoyed all of my courses as they were not only filled with amazing and varried knowledge on the subject of human rights during (and post) dictatorship but also because they were taught by the people who lived that reality. My professors and program directors also scheduled tours at several memorial sites and museums in both cities. They were capitivating, educational, but, most importantly, heartbreaking. You can read more about my experience on my blog.

Courses

• • Human Rights and Cultural Production in Argentina (looking at art and film)

  • Human Rights in Argentina (from philosophical and historical perspectives)

  • Spanish for Human Rights (only in Argentina)

  • Human Rights, Poverty, and Development in Chile

  • Memory and Human Rights: Chilean Literature, Film and Media

It is fairly unusual for someone already in their third year of college to talk about their high school education, but I want to recognize my roots and thank all of my amazing teachers without whom I might be somewhere else and going in a different directions.

OCSA's academic courses also had a huge impact on me, specifically the Spanish course for native speakers. I attended that class as nobody was quite sure where to put the former Spanish-immersion student with no family ties to Hispanic America or even Spain. It was in that class that I learned not only of the geography and basic history of Latin America but also the brutality its people experienced throughout centuries of dictatorial regimes and formal and informal imperialism. This is what solidified my interest in Latin America.

Courses

• • Spanish for Native Speakers (Kim Lyons)

  • AP U.S. History (Nicole Read)

  • AP World History (Anton Striegl)

  • Intro to Graphic Design (without which this website might not exist or exist in poor taste)

I'd be remiss to leave out this part of my education, that of which my current education and interest is based in. This was a really difficult program. I was thrown into a kidergarten class where 90 percent of the instruction was in Spanish -- a notably better situation than what a lot of children of immigrants confront unfortunately. History and science were in Spanish for all of elementary school and math was in Spanish up until fourth grade. I even took the same standardized tests as kids across California and Mexico. I am grateful to this program as, from it, I gained a lot of life-long skills and friends.