I was born in El Salvador, I am guanaco (https://www.elsalvadormipais.com/por-que-nos-dicen-guanacos), in a town called Zacatecoluca, I am viroleño (http://lexicoon.org/es/viroleno) as well. My life in the U.S. is the result of the civil war in my country of origin. Therefore, I have spent most of my adult life in the U.S. and I see a clear division in my life, a before and an after. The before, I lived it in El Salvador, where I had my formative years during my childhood and adolescence. These years provided the family support and the strict education of a centralized system. The after, is still taking place, as my life is always in a state of constant change. In the U.S. adulthood happened.

In the process of immersion and assimilation to a new culture and language, unconsciously I created a breach between my own culture and myself. I stayed away from anything related to Latin America, I got lost in the culture of the U.S., and in some way, I was conditioned to be ashamed of who I was: an immigrant.

From this estrangement, I deemed necessary a conscientious change. I started the M.A. program at UIUC and discovered a whole new world, a world that in reality was not new. It was always there, the only thing that I needed was literature. Literature from the Spanish speaking world, especially from Latin America, where the structures of power, foreign domination, national identity, sexual identity are examined and questioned.

I did obtain an M.A. in French Studies, and I am glad that I did not go further in the French literature field. I am glad, however, that I speak and know the language and some of its canonical works.

Through my years at UIUC I fell in love with teaching. As part of my training I have been teaching since 2016. Being in the classroom give the opportunity to see the satisfaction in my students, I see the joy they project when they realized they are able to communicate in  a different language, and by doing so they are capable of appreciating, understanding, and connect with other cultures. At the same time, the knowledge of Spanish and the cultures associated with the language provides them with tools that are of value in the professional market.