More about me...

Being a first generation student, although it has not been easy, I have been able to gain great experiences from my peers, teachers, friends, and family. I am proud to be where I am and to have gathered all of these experiences throughout my lifetime and I hope to gain much more!

Around middle school, I joined the Mariachi group and academy, Academia de Mariachi Nuevo Amanecer where I grew closer to my culture and music, and first learned about my love for the arts. This was a major turning point in my life, as this was my first major endeavor into anything and would forever have an impact on my life as an artist along the way.

Throughout my time there, I gained invaluable artistic experience and learned to play guitar. I played in several events with the mariachi around NYC and with numerous mexican artists. Having played in several restaurants, parties, parades, and stages, this was an amazing experience that first showed me the world on stage.

After some time, I started my first experience in teaching, teaching the basics of guitar to beginners at the Academia de Mariachi Nuevo Amanecer. This would be the first of many years to come of sharing my expertise with others and learning what it means to be a teacher.

After having been part of the mariachi, I wanted to continue in the arts and decided to apply and audition for Frank Sinatra High School of the Arts in Astoria. Here, I would hone my skills as a singer and had the opportunity to perform in many more high-profile locations in New York City such as Radio City Music Hall and on a Broadway stage. I would even perform as ensemble and several minor roles in the school's production of RENT.

While my time here, I would soon begin teaching my little sister vocal techniques and soon come to love coaching my sister in her singing. After graduating FSSA, my sister would soon audition and get accepted into FSSA as well, where she will soon begin her high school experience.

Throughout my time at FSSA, even before my time there, I knew my dream career would lie elsewhere though. Since I interacted with my first computer in elementary school, I knew I would spend my days reaching to make my dream career something about computers. Towards my final 2 years of high-school, I researched more and more about different careers in technology and found my dream career, a cybersecurity specialist. I taught myself to code in Python and independently researched different cybersecurity topics. This is when I decided to apply to Universities that had a Cybersecurity program, to further my aspirations to become a CyberSec Specialist.

After looking at many different universities and colleges, I decided that my heart would be set on St. John's University and their cybersecurity program. During my initial time there, the struggle to adapt would prove to be a challenge, but at the end of my 2nd year, I would launch my intense collaborations with my peers and the school itself.

After visiting my first ACM (Association of Computing Machinary) Club meeting - a cybersecurity CTF - I knew I had to put my efforts into that club and consequently, the STJ cybersecurity team (Cyberstorm) that I had been recruited to due to the CTF. After several meetings and motivation to be involved, I was invited to join the executive board of the ACM club during my 3rd year, and then elected as Vice-president in my current year (4th year). During my time there, I was able to organize club workshops and hackathons where a sizable number of students participated. I hope to continue working towards improving the ACM club and expand our outreach.

The cybersecurity team was another amazing opportunity I was able to be a part of. When I was recruited, it was around the same time when I first joined the ACM club. Since then, I have been able to be a part of an amazing team where we are able to compete with other universities on the local , state, and national level. I have since taken a part of many of these competitions and have since been made current Captain of the Cybersecurity team at St. Johns.

Since I started my studies at St. John's I have also been working as a tutor, working with a wide range of subjects, including SHSAT, State Test prep, Spanish (LOTE), Computer Programming fundamentals, ESL, and much more.

I have always known that the best way to learn is to teach, so I will continue teaching, tutoring and honing my skills to become more skilled in what I do, and aim for success!