Biography

I was born on June 29, 1989 in Santa Fe, New Mexico. My life of community service started when I was around ten years old For four years I volunteered at Community Day and Pancakes on the Plaza. When I reached middle school I got in to Monte del Sol Charter School (MdS). Through MdS I found my mentor. My mentor's name is Jill Falice, she is the founder of Assistance Dogs of the West in Santa Fe. With her I began learning how to train service dogs for people with physical disabilities. I started working with Jill when I was 12 years old and have been working with her ever since. My work with the organization recently has included working as a teacher's assistant teaching younger kids how to train the dogs. I have also raised numerous service dogs and am now training a seizure alert dog for a person with epilepsy.

When I was about thirteen years old I began struggling with my personal identity. When I was fifteen I joined my school's gay straight alliance (GSA). With them I have gone into the seventh and eighth grades at my schoolto facilitate "diversity trainings." In these we work to promote diversity and create a greater acceptance of everyone. As I grew I became more and more politically aware and passionate. In recent years I have worked on political campaigns, petitioning and canvassing. I have lobbied against the numerous DOMA bills that have come up in the legislature in New Mexico.

I am now seventeen. Almost half of my life has evolved around my work in the community. I know that my work with the assistance dogs and in the LGBTQ community has made not only a difference to those around me, but a huge difference to me. In December I was accepted to Warren Wilson College in North Carolina. Their program is a triad in which a third of your time is spent on academics, a third on work on campus, and twenty-five hours a year on community service. I do not know what I will do after college, but I do know that I want to continue working with animals and in politics.