My Education
Degrees
M.S. Documentary Journalism, Columbia School of Journalism (transfer from Columbia OHMA), starting Fall 2024; expected Dec. 2025
M.F.A. Digital & Interdisciplinary Art Practice, The City College of New York-CUNY
B.A. Film (minors in French & European Studies), Virginia Commonwealth University, School of the Arts
B.A. English (minor in Spanish), Virginia Commonwealth University, College of Humanities & Sciences
C.E. Product Innovation, Virginia Commonwealth University, da Vinci Center
Study abroad:
• OHMA Research, Mexico City, Mexico
• CCNY MFA DIAP Travel Award, El Proyecto Laberinto, El Salvador
• VCU/University of Guadalajara Spanish-English Translation & Interpretation, Mexico
• VCU Glasgow Artists & Writers Workshop, Scotland
• VCU French Language & Culture Summer Semester, France
For-credit, non-degree coursework:
• George Mason University: Graduate course in Folklore Studies/Anthropology (Performative Competence)
• Grinnell College, P.O.S.S.E. Scholar: Undergraduate coursework, 36 credits in English, digital art, Spanish, French, art history, and environmental history
Non-credit education & training:
• The People's Improv Theatre, comedy scholarship (writing/performance)
• BMI Lehman Engle Musical Theatre Bookwriting Workshop
• Hudson Valley Writers Center, The Art of Dramatic Writing for Stage, Screen, and Television
• Online Foreign Language Learning Program: Spanish, Columbia University, Teachers College
• Creative Writing Class "Writing from Personal Archives," Columbia University
• UrbanGlass, The Bead Project & Chelicca Scholarship for Bead Project Alumni, glass arts
• Artshack Brooklyn, clay studio
• Textile Arts Center, natural dyeing
• Yale University THREAD Storytelling Seminar
• VCU AmeriCorps Volunteer Training
• The Washington Post High School Writing Seminar
• Marymount University, Digital Art High School Training Program
• Virginia Governor's School, Japanese Summer Language Academy
• Leadership Arlington Youth Program
Select scholarships:
• Sydney & Jacoff Scholarship
• Blanche Mason Scholarship
• Neyman Family Scholarship
• Connor Tuition Scholarship
• Connor Travel Grant
• Support Creativity Scholarship
• VCU Board of Visitors Award
• P.O.S.S.E. Scholarship
• USA Today Al Neuharth Free Spirit in Journalism Scholarship
• Smithsonian Latino Center Young Ambassador Scholarship
Early home life, which informed formal education:
• Salvadoran mother (U.S. naturalized citizen), American father (U.S. born citizen)
• Family of five; oldest of three siblings
• Mother - curtailed grade school education
• Father - college graduate
• English dominant household with secondary Spanish (mother's first language)
• First in family born and raised in Arlington, Virginia
• Shared family interests and activities in the arts, culture, recreational soccer, and nature
M.F.A. Digital & Interdisciplinary Art Practice, The City College of New York-CUNY
B.A. Film (minors in French & European Studies), Virginia Commonwealth University, School of the Arts
B.A. English (minor in Spanish), Virginia Commonwealth University, College of Humanities & Sciences
C.E. Product Innovation, Virginia Commonwealth University, da Vinci Center
Study abroad:
• OHMA Research, Mexico City, Mexico
• CCNY MFA DIAP Travel Award, El Proyecto Laberinto, El Salvador
• VCU/University of Guadalajara Spanish-English Translation & Interpretation, Mexico
• VCU Glasgow Artists & Writers Workshop, Scotland
• VCU French Language & Culture Summer Semester, France
For-credit, non-degree coursework:
• George Mason University: Graduate course in Folklore Studies/Anthropology (Performative Competence)
• Grinnell College, P.O.S.S.E. Scholar: Undergraduate coursework, 36 credits in English, digital art, Spanish, French, art history, and environmental history
Non-credit education & training:
• The People's Improv Theatre, comedy scholarship (writing/performance)
• BMI Lehman Engle Musical Theatre Bookwriting Workshop
• Hudson Valley Writers Center, The Art of Dramatic Writing for Stage, Screen, and Television
• Online Foreign Language Learning Program: Spanish, Columbia University, Teachers College
• Creative Writing Class "Writing from Personal Archives," Columbia University
• UrbanGlass, The Bead Project & Chelicca Scholarship for Bead Project Alumni, glass arts
• Artshack Brooklyn, clay studio
• Textile Arts Center, natural dyeing
• Yale University THREAD Storytelling Seminar
• VCU AmeriCorps Volunteer Training
• The Washington Post High School Writing Seminar
• Marymount University, Digital Art High School Training Program
• Virginia Governor's School, Japanese Summer Language Academy
• Leadership Arlington Youth Program
Select scholarships:
• Sydney & Jacoff Scholarship
• Blanche Mason Scholarship
• Neyman Family Scholarship
• Connor Tuition Scholarship
• Connor Travel Grant
• Support Creativity Scholarship
• VCU Board of Visitors Award
• P.O.S.S.E. Scholarship
• USA Today Al Neuharth Free Spirit in Journalism Scholarship
• Smithsonian Latino Center Young Ambassador Scholarship
Early home life, which informed formal education:
• Salvadoran mother (U.S. naturalized citizen), American father (U.S. born citizen)
• Family of five; oldest of three siblings
• Mother - curtailed grade school education
• Father - college graduate
• English dominant household with secondary Spanish (mother's first language)
• First in family born and raised in Arlington, Virginia
• Shared family interests and activities in the arts, culture, recreational soccer, and nature
A Brief Statement on Educational Philosophy
The purpose of an education should be to develop yourself intellectually, creatively, emotionally, and spiritually. It should develop your knowledge, imagination, critical thinking skills, and soul. That it’s in addition to your confidence, which is the relationship you have with yourself, as well as the relationship you have with others. It’s easy to dismiss an active education because passive education is common. We have to take initiative. We have to question what we are taught and co-author our learning environments. We have to look at how our education applies beyond academia and what purpose it serves beyond earning a grade, certificate, or degree. And we have to own the choices we make. We are accountable for how we participate in our education and bringing that education into the world.
I was inspired to make this page after reading Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom by bell hooks. This book was assigned by Becca Albee for the course Teaching Practicum at The City College of New York during my MFA.
I was inspired to make this page after reading Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom by bell hooks. This book was assigned by Becca Albee for the course Teaching Practicum at The City College of New York during my MFA.
