Selena was, or I guess is a role model to me. We were both born in Texas, although I was raised in KC. Seeing this beautiful Latina, who was confident, beautiful, and imperfect was so relevant to me. She didn’t speak perfect Spanish, but she always tried. I remember growing up, speaking both English and Spanish, I would get so embarrassed when I wasn’t perfect. She was an example of how to embrace multiple cultures — both my parents are immigrants, my mom from Honduras, and my dad from Mexico. haha, I always remember the quote from the movie where her dad is talking about the Mexican-American experience “you have to be more Mexican than the Mexicans and more American than the Americans…it’s exhausting” I feel like that explained a lot of my childhood. Selena is iconic for all the right reasons.

I want to be a teacher serving in the Latinx community. I want my students to believe in themselves, to be confident and to know that they belong. I want to help them set goals and to know they are capable.

I had to unlearn a lot to be able to love and appreciate my body. I had to let go of this mentality that skinny = pretty. Or that I would be woman enough if I had bigger boobs or butt. I truly believe now that I am enough. I am a woman. All women are beautiful. I believe it’s important to lift girls up for the right things, instead of telling them to change or comparing them. I hope that my actions are a reminder of that. GIRL, you are ENOUGH.

I think a lot about my role as a sister. I want my siblings to know that I believe in them and that they should believe in themselves too. That it’s OK to take risks and make mistakes — I have! I learned from them and just kept moving forward. That’s what I want for them. I hope that they don’t let the opinion of others dim their lights. I like the quote from Selena “believe that the impossible is possible.” Effort and hard work matter, even if we all have different starting points, but I think I’ll just keep shooting for the impossible.

…at the end of the day, I want to make sure that I remember my roots.

My parents made a lot of sacrifices to give me and my siblings a better life, so I’m not going to waste that. I’m going to work hard, be kind and just as importantly, I’m going to enjoy life.