I was only eight years old, lost and confused in a new town surrounded by a language that was strange to me. All I wanted to do was scream and return to Peru with my other family members. Nevertheless, my English improved, and I started making friends. Things were getting better, finally. When I was eight years old, my mom had my younger brother, Zhenwei. It was amazing having two younger siblings to look after— I loved having them around!
In New Hampshire, we had to move to a different town, which meant attending a new school. I hated moving to new schools because I didn't know what to expect. But as school got more challenging and the subjects became more interesting, I started to engage myself more. I also began volunteering in my community so that I would feel more connected. In high school, I enrolled in a course that enabled me to teach children in kindergarten. I loved it so much that I decided I wanted to be a teacher— and that's what exactly happened. In my senior year of high school, I applied to a lot of colleges and got into my top choice: Wheelock College, in Boston, Massachusetts.
It was hard leaving my house and my family. But my parents supported me a lot. I moved to Boston, and looking back at my time there, I couldn't be happier with my decision. In college, I volunteered as a Jumpstart Corps Member, joined a couple of clubs on campus, took on leadership roles, and traveled as much as I could to learn about different cultures. After four long, sometimes tedious, difficult but adventurous years, I graduated from Wheelock with a Bachelor's degree in Counseling Psychology and a Massachusetts Teaching License for Pre-K to Second Grade.
While I was teaching in college, I fell in love with traveling.
