I was born in the vibrant city of La Vega in The Dominican Republic. At the age of seven, I migrated with my mother and older sister to the small city of Lawrence, Massachusetts where I have lived ever since. Many names have been attached to the city of Lawrence, some call it “little D.R.” due to the large population of Dominicans and their impact on the community, others have deemed it “City of the Damned”. Regardless of how locals and outsiders view the city, it continues to offer for me a sense of home, community, and the desire to achieve all the dreams my family imagined when we first migrated there.
Growing up in Lawrence provided me with an unforgettable learning experience. I had amazing teachers who went above and beyond to teach and support the vast population of immigrant and first-generation students in my schools, others only saw us as poor and helpless children. Upon graduating high school, I started to realize how limited the opportunities were for my peers and I. In those moments, I still did not imagine myself becoming the educator I am today, but I knew that my talents rested in supporting students who grew up just like me: immigrant, poor, and with a burning passion to make it out the hood. 
I spent many of my high school and college years serving as a mentor for younger students. I enjoyed being able to help other students succeed, and the impact that I had on them was always rewarding. Though I engaged in a lot of passionate work with these students, it was not until I took my studies to the amazing city of Accra, Ghana that I was sure I wanted to be a teacher. While there, I interned at a local high school and it was the first time I was ever in complete responsibility of a classroom and its curriculum. I was impressed by the level of respect my students had for me. Whenever I entered the room they all rose and welcomed me by saying “Good morning, madam” almost perfectly in sync. While I knew this was not how I should have expected my future students in the U.S. to behave, teaching in Ghana made me think a lot about the kind of educator I wanted to become and the kind of learning community I wanted to create for my future students. I soon decided to fully commit to Clark’s MAT program, and was excited to start a journey towards becoming a teacher.
I have always had a passion for reading and writing, but I was not exposed to literature by and about people who looked like me until my first year as an undergrad at Clark University. After taking a course on Latino literature, I became even more enamored with English literature, and hoped that in becoming a teacher I could introduce high schools students to such reading and writing. I found it unfortunate that I was not exposed to diverse literature before, and felt that having the opportunity to read such literature would have made my years in elementary, middle, and high school more enjoyable. 
Reading and writing helped me understand who I am and where I come from, it taught me how to use language as a tool for self-expression and fighting injustice, and I hope that I can provide that same opportunity for all students in my classroom. Through the study of literature, my students are able to explore the world outside of their own communities and imagine endless ways of becoming whoever they want to be.
