About

I was born and raised in Youngstown, Ohio. I completed all of my higher education in Akron, Ohio and for the past decade I have been nurturing a career and raising a family in Cleveland. I’m proud to be a native of Northeast Ohio and as of late, I have been acquainting myself with its rich cultural and historical impact on this country. Needless to say, I’m a loyal Cavalier and Guardians fan. Should I ever leave this area, I see myself living near the ocean instead of the Great Lakes.

I graduated from the University of Akron with a double B.A.S. in Political Science and Criminal Justice. I also received a B.A. in Spanish. I’m working on marrying the two fields together (criminal justice and Spanish) therefore, I’m currently training to become a certified court interpreter for the State of Ohio. My goal is to use my talents to service the Spanish speaking Latino community with my knowledge of politics, criminal justice, higher education and the Spanish language.

After receiving my B.A.S., I was accepted into the graduate school at the University of Akron with an assistantship scholarship to complete my M.A. in Spanish. I was heavily involved with the Latino organization on campus as a student leader and advocate for Hispanic and Latino issues. My graduate thesis project highlights the plight of women and their role as both mothers and subversives during the Franco dictatorship in Spain (1939-1975). My research interest is centered around the idea of sisterhood and how it can be used a mechanism for both survival and resistance, as well as a means of unifying and recuperating the suppressed feminine voice within an oppressive dictatorial regime.

I have been teaching various courses in University level Spanish for twelve years and I have accreditation as a Diplomas de Español como Lengua Extranjera (DELE) examiner. Currently, I am enrolled as a part time graduate student (under the auspices of the Nord grant with UCITE) at the University of Houston. I am training in the field of linguistics with a focus on teaching Spanish to heritage learners.

In addition to teaching, I possess strong communication and mentorship skills that allow me to work effectively with young people, especially students from underrepresented backgrounds. I am committed to advancing diversity and inclusion for our entire campus community, and my unique perspective as a multi-racial, Muslim Latina contributes to my relatability and understanding of diverse individuals and groups.

In addition to my work at CWRU, I’m a youth mentor, community volunteer and a community activist for the greater Cleveland area. I consider myself a linguaphile, bibliophile and polyglot. In my free time I enjoy studying Arabic and ASL and I’m pretty good at creating miniature polymer clay art and poems.

What is the difference between Interpreting and Translating?
Interpreting: The rendering of one language to another through speech.
Translating: The rendering of one language to another through writing.

What is the difference between a Hispanic and a Latino?
Hispanic: An individual whose heritage and language has origins in Spain and Spanish language.

Latino: An individual whose heritage and language has origins in any of the 5 romance languages (Romance Languages are derived from Latin; Romanian, Portuguese, Spanish, French and Italian).

In the United States, the term Latino often refers to anyone with cultural or linguistic ties to the Caribbean, Central America, North or South America or Brazil.

❝If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.❞
‒Nelson Mandela

❝One language sets you in a corridor for life. Two languages open every door along the way.❞
‒Frank Smith

❝The limits of my language are the limits of my world.❞
‒Ludwig Wittgenstein

❝Those who know nothing of foreign languages know nothing of their own.❞
‒Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

❝To have another language is to possess a second soul.❞
‒Charlemagne