Hello everyone! ¿Cómo están? (How are you?) ¡Mucho gusto! (Nice to meet you!) My name is Valery López and I am super excited to share my story and to get to know you all very soon! I am 23 years old, from the Chicago-land area and a proud daughter to Mexican immigrants. As someone who considers herself Mexican-American/Chicana, my Mexican heritage is very important to me. Throughout my childhood, I danced on a Mexican folk dance team, ate Mexican food and listened to music at home; all which helped me embrace my Mexican roots and traditions. At home, my family only spoke Spanish. In fact, Spanish was my first language! When I was in elementary school, I was in English Language Learner (ELL) programs until the third grade. Do you have similar experiences? Do you have a multi-cultural identity (in my case, being Mexican and American) that is important to your story? I would love to learn about it!
I recently graduated from Grinnell College where I studied Political Science and French. I am a first-generation college student, which means I am the first person in my family to go to college. My college was four hours away from home, and although I missed my family a lot, I enjoyed living in a new state where I was surrounded by farms and cornfields.
