• I volunteered for the Kingman Area Literacy Program, dedicating over 100 hours to helping individuals receive their GED’s, through one-on-one tutoring and group sessions. My work in this program reinforced my belief in the transformative power of education and strengthened my commitment to advocating for accessible learning for all. https://www.welcomemohave.org/

• I had the privilege of working with Care in Action, an organization focused on empowering underserved communities through advocacy, education, and social services. Care in Action focuses on creating lasting change by providing resources, raising awareness, and mobilizing individuals to take action in their communities. https://careinaction.us/about/
• I have had the opportunity to intern with candidates of the Arizona Corporation Commission, which oversees the regulation of utility rates, water management, and more. As an intern, I have actively contributed to advocating for renewable energy policies, promoting environmental sustainability, and encouraging civic engagement through voter outreach. https://www.azcc.gov/

Growing up in poverty, I saw firsthand the struggles of a family that never had access to proper education. With only a sixth-grade education, my mother migrated to the US with my grandparents in hopes of a better future. My siblings and I were the first in our family to graduate from high school, but even then, Arizona’s public education system, ranked 40th out of 50 states in K- 12 education. Arizona consistently fails its students, and I felt like the system failed me too.

As the child of immigrants, I saw my family work long, grueling hours with no benefits, barely able to afford the basics. We didn’t have access to public health care, so we had to navigate life without the security of proper medical attention, just like many other families who are forced to make impossible choices. They worked not to live, but to survive, and I realized that life shouldn’t be this way. People shouldn’t have to kill themselves just to make ends meet.

It wasn’t until I went to college that my perspective expanded further, but not without challenge. As the first in my family to attend college, I felt the gap between myself and my peers, always feeling behind and barely able to catch up.

In community college, I learned about environmental issues, and how our actions affect not just us, but everyone. I delved into history and discovered things that were never taught in our textbooks, like how corporations like Coca-Cola have contributed to the War on Drugs and how policies have been shaped by money and power at the expense of people’s lives.

Through my classes, I began to see how deeply interconnected everything is, our environment, our society, our systems of power. These discoveries lit a fire in me. I witnessed the inequalities, the struggles of my family, the failures of the education system, the lack of access to basic necessities, and the environmental damage we continue to inflict. I knew then that I wanted to make a change, not just for myself, but for others.

This is why I care about both advocacy and activism. I believe that people shouldn’t have to suffer or be left behind by broken systems, and that by raising awareness, pushing for policies that promote equity, and demanding accountability, we can create a better world for future generations.