When I first arrived on campus, I attended a welcome event where Dave Price ILR ’87 was a guest speaker. I remember feeling homesick and overwhelmed as I sat with my friends. I felt so lost at that moment and had no idea what my time at Cornell would look like.

As I reflect on the past four years, I can say my time at Cornell has been full of personal and professional growth, building connections, and doing meaningful things for my community.

Campus and Community Engagement

My goal was to find communities that shared my values. During my freshman year, I joined M.E.Ch.A., an organization that fosters community awareness of Latinx culture through educational, cultural, and social programming. I found a community where I could celebrate my culture, speak Spanish, and share Latinx music/cuisine. Shortly after, I decided to join Early College Awareness (ECA), which is an organization that mentors students around the Ithaca area on the college application process. As a first-generation college student, I understand the challenges many students face, and I wanted to close some of the educational gaps in the community. This same passion for higher education led me to the ILR Ambassadors and later the chance to work for the ILR Admissions Office.

Through these organizations, I found incredible friends and classmates that care about making a social impact and impacting the life of a prospective student. My campus and community engagement fueled my desire to support students from multicultural and low-income backgrounds in educational and professional settings.

Professional Growth

The ILR School prepared me for my career path through various courses and opportunities. After taking Human Resource Management during my sophomore year, I decided to pursue a summer internship with Mediaocean as a People & Culture intern. In this internship, I received an introduction to HR and its core function. This was my first experience in the professional workplace, and I was grateful to have a very supportive team. During the fall semester of my junior year, I decided to pursue an ILR Credit Internship, a program that allows upperclassmen to gain professional work experience while gaining a semester’s worth of credits. I interned at Avalara as a Talent Acquisition & Diversity Coordinator where I assessed the organization’s diversity and outreach strategy and provided recommendations on how to expand their current efforts. This was a great experience because I had autonomy over my projects and did a lot of diversity data analysis. During my junior summer internship, I worked at Tesla as a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion intern. I loved this internship because it taught me how DEI teams can impact organizations, employee resource groups, and other key stakeholders to create an inclusive workplace that drives a company’s culture and mission.

Overall, these experiences helped me gain great transferable skills. I met incredible leaders and learned how to carry myself authentically in the workplace.

Advisors & Friends

My time at Cornell would not be the same without the support and care that my advisors from the Office of Student Services, the Office of Career Services, and the credit internship programs provided. Whenever I encountered academic, career, or personal dilemmas and needed advice, I had advisors I could rely on. I will always be grateful for the support Jessie Mancilla, Brigid Beachler, and Anu Lyons gave me. I made some of my closest friendships at the Pre-Collegiate Summer Scholars Program. I’ve had the privilege of seeing my friends grow academically, professionally, and personally. My advisors and friends played a big role in making Cornell feel like home.

After graduation, I’ll be venturing off to a new city just like I did four years ago when I came to Ithaca. Though I’m nervous to take this leap, I’m very excited for the transition to adulthood as I start my career.