Mariapia Rueda: Student filled with wanderlust and a desire for justice

I'm a first-year student at Florida State University. I am originally from Bogota, Colombia but grew up in Dallas, Texas. I am interested in travelling, photography, human rights, and discovering new things. Last semester at FSU I became involved with organizations that truly allow me to make the change I want to make in the world. I was extended an invitation to become a part of Service Scholars, through which I have become familiar with the Tallahassee community by serving those in need. I chose to join Advocates for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, through which I have informed the FSU campus about what it means to be an immigrant and have aided refugee families who recently immigrated to this country. I am excited about continuing my involvement in these organizations this semester as well as doing more things in the city of Tallahassee. 
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I have extensive experience with English and writing, specifically as I took AP and IB English my junior year and IB English my senior year. These courses and teacher who taught them really helped me become more confident as a writer and develop my critical thinking and expression. One of  the assignments required for IB was a written task; it was over a novel we had read, The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. I thoroughly enjoyed the novel and the cultural context behind it, and I worked with my teacher in order to produce the best result. I received a 98 for the assignment, demonstrating my effort in writing was paying off. It was great to see this improvement after I had been scoring in the high 80's on previous essays, something foreign to me before reaching more rigorous English classes. I believe the purpose of writing is for a person to communicate his or her thoughts to other people, hoping someone understands in order to attain the human connection we all long for. I hope that throughout this course I become confident with citing sources and ensure I will carry on as a strong writer and critical thinker throughout my undergrad and law school.