Traveling Insights: An Inside Perspective

Let's face it. People are complicated. And just when you think you've got someone figured out, they tell you something new that you never would have expected. Most people don't believe me when I tell them I'm bi-racial. Except that's never the term I've used to describe myself--until now. Growing up, I always told people I was half Mexican. Bi-racial wasn't even in my vocabulary. Neither was second-generation immigrant, which is also technically true. But growing up in a primarily White household with White extended family, the only thing I knew of my Mexican heritage came from the authentic tamales de puerco my mom would make for dinner, chiles rellenos that she ordered at restaurants, and a handful of other dishes that didn't quite fit in with the rest of our very American diet. If you're reading mom, I really do miss your cooking. You will forever be the chef I hope to one day impress with my own culinary concoctions. Arroz con gandules

The writing continues. In my last blog post I wrote about one of the first trips in 3 years that I actually spent money on (gasp!) instead of spending someone else's through scholarships, crowdfunding, and the like. My life escapades continue in Minnesota, with a renewed vigor now that the chaos of academic life is in the dust--at least for the next few months. As my iCloud drive fills up and I am forced to delete old files to free up space, I came across a somewhat frightening realization of why my first semester in grad school might have been so draining. Yep, you counted right. Thirteen folders dedicated to job applications. As if grappling with a new city weren't enough, I was constantly in a process of searching for a good-paying job, which resulted in the overwhelming set of folders pictured above. Thirteen, in fact, each dedicated to a different job application. One thing I will say--the experience helped me tremendously with writing cover letters, which I now