Service is both a responsibility and a form of intellectual and ethical engagement. It is the work we do beyond our research and teaching — often behind the scenes — that makes our institutions more inclusive, more collaborative, and more just. Throughout my academic journey, I have chosen service roles that align with my commitment to racial and linguistic equity, public scholarship, and student empowerment. Whether at the departmental, university, or professional level, I view service not as a checklist, but as an extension of my scholarly and pedagogical commitments.

At Duke, I have served as the Spanish Representative for the Romance Studies Graduate Student Liaison Committee (2023–2025), where I work to foster communication between graduate students and faculty, advocate for student needs, and help shape departmental initiatives. I have also helped organize academic events that reflect my research values, such as moderating the book presentation of Made in NuYoRico by Dr. Marisol Negrón, which brought together scholars and students across disciplines to discuss the political and cultural legacies of salsa music and Nuyorican identity. At Texas Tech, I served as President of the graduate student organization Céfiro and held leadership roles in the Spanish Club and Sigma Delta Pi. These experiences allowed me to mentor fellow students, coordinate conferences, and build intellectual communities that centered minoritized voices and global perspectives.

Beyond campus, my professional service has focused on expanding access to knowledge through translation, outreach, and interdisciplinary collaboration. I collaborated with Duke initiatives like the Bass Connections Project Celebra Cultura Latinx, and the Duke and Durham Communities Working Group of Community Partnership and Pedagogies of Racial Justice: Identifying, Understanding and Challenging Raciolinguistic Practices. I chose these projects because they bring scholarship into conversation with community needs, especially around issues of race, language, and representation. This is where I believe the most transformative service happens — at the intersection of the university and the world it inhabits.

Thematically, my service is deeply intertwined with my research and teaching. My academic work interrogates how race and colonial legacies shape cultural production; my service seeks to dismantle barriers that perpetuate those very hierarchies within academic spaces. In the classroom, I design syllabi and learning experiences that reflect the same values I bring to organizing panels and community projects: equity, access, and critical engagement. Whether I am mentoring undergraduate students, curating a reading list, or helping facilitate a departmental conversation, my goal is to help build spaces where marginalized histories and voices are not just acknowledged, but centered.

I believe faculty should engage in service because it sustains the very conditions that allow research and teaching to thrive. Our institutions are shaped by the care and labor of those who choose to show up — not just in their scholarship, but in meetings, committees, mentorship, and community work. This labor is often invisible, especially when it supports students of color, first-generation scholars, and underrepresented voices. That is why I choose it.

Looking ahead, I hope to continue supporting inclusive curricular development, mentoring emerging scholars, and organizing events that bridge disciplines and communities. I am particularly interested in helping institutions rethink how service is valued — especially labor done by women of color — and how it can be more equitably distributed and recognized. In addition, I am excited to bring quality education in my new role as an Adjunct Instructor at Durham Technical Community College, where I hope to help students from all walks of life — whether high school students, adult learners, or students preparing to transfer to a four-year institution — achieve their academic goals. Teaching at a community college allows me to connect more directly with the local community and offers a valuable new perspective on education and the transformative potential of accessible, student-centered teaching.