I grew up in South Texas surrounded by bustling cityscapes, peaceful lakes, and many, many squirrels. When I wasn’t glued to the television watching my favorite cartoons, I was outdoors exploring. Stories are everywhere, after all. There were wizards in the city, mermaids in the lakes, and a rebellion put on by the squirrels to overthrow the monarchy that over-taxed their nuts.

As a Mixed-Mexican woman raised by a single mother, I know the importance of making my place in the world when none is made for me. My voice is one of power, one that I will use to reach those that were forgotten or abandoned.

I graduated from the Ringling College of Art & Design with a BFA in Creative Writing. With an insatiable love of learning, I also graduated with three minors: Business of Art & Design, Film Studies, and Studies in Gender & Sexuality.

There are hundreds of writing programs across the country, but I went to Ringling because I wanted to learn in a community of creatives. My lifelong friends are artists, writers, and other people who hold storytelling as a core part of their being.

Life is hard. Writing is fun.

Life is beautiful and complicated. I have always been drawn to animation because of how it reflects our own struggles, provides an escape, and makes us think about our place in life. Whether we are in need of excitement or comfort, celebration or consolation, there are stories we can turn to and find exactly that.

I gave myself this title because I was a very curious child, and am an extremely curious adult. I can’t look at a single tree without thinking, “I wonder how that got there. I wonder if any animals live in it. I wonder what its future looks like.” It would be disingenuous to not carry that same wonder into my own work as I weave tales together, sparking from the simplest statements such as “I wonder…”

It’s wonderful!

The fact that I’m always daydreaming and thinking of fun situations to put my characters in. Staring off into the distance? No, playing out a scene in my head. Randomly smiling? Just figured out the perfect name for a character. Holding in a laugh?…Okay, that last one might be from replaying a funny video in my head.