Last semester, I transcribed interviews with parents rebuilding their lives after deportation, crossing back and forth to reach work and school for their children. I had grown up on the border thinking of it as a bridge. Their voices taught me it was a barrier, and that the policies shaping their days were written by people who had never heard them speak. I want to spend my career in federal legislative and regulatory work on labor and immigration, the two policy areas that most directly shape migrant lives, yet are most often treated as separate when they are the same story. Migrants are not moved across borders by accident. They are pulled by economies that need their labor and pushed out by systems that refuse to protect it. Deportation is not the end of that cycle; it is often the beginning of another one, where the same workers are recycled into lower-paid jobs on the other side of the border. That is not a border failure. That is the design, and it is the design I want to help dismantle. My work has followed this conviction. At the Bush School's Economic Statecraft Program, I developed a case study on U.S.-Mexico economic integration and trade relations. At Suday Law PLLC, I researched immigration and asylum processes and communicated them to clients navigating a system that rarely paused to explain itself. This summer in Sevilla, I supported transparency reporting for a regional platform of approximately 70 NGOs engaged in sociocultural advocacy. Each role has confirmed the same lesson: migrant workers sustain economies that refuse to see them as fully human. The policy issue I care most deeply about is migrant labor rights, specifically the enforcement gap in agreements like the USMCA and the systemic failure to protect guest workers, seasonal laborers, and transborder families whose labor crosses borders more freely than their rights do. Civil discourse is what makes this work possible. Four years of competitive Model UN and now my role as Vice President of Development for Texas A&M Model UN trained me to advocate firmly while keeping the other side at the table. But the deeper discipline came from transcription, receiving a story that challenges your assumptions without rushing to respond. Policy built without that discipline governs people it has never listened to. My loyalty is to making sure it does. CIVIC, LEADERSHIP & POLICY ROLES VP of Development, TAMU Model United Nations Sept 2025–Present Contact: Brianna Burnside, bburnside@tamu.edu Executive Director of Longitude & Cultural Affairs, MSC Freshman Leadership International May 2026–Present (Committee Member: Sept 2025–May 2026) Contact: Nicolas Fulco, fulcon@tamu.edu, (979) 847-0102 Designate Undergraduate Liaison, Women, Peace, and Security Fall 2026– Contact: Available upon request Research Intern, Bush School Economic Statecraft Program Jan–May 2026 Contact: Sarah Stokes, sarahstokes@tamu.edu, (512) 789-3511 Hullabaloo U Peer Mentor, Texas A&M Fall 2026– Contact: Clayton Mathis, claymath2000@tamu.edu Transparency & Admin Intern, CAONGD (Sevilla, Spain) May–June 2026 Contact: Ángela Fernández Sánchez, coordinadora.andaluza@caongd.org, +34 954 915 249 Legal Intake Intern, Suday Law PLLC (Houston, TX) Mar–May 2025 Contact: Jesus Suday, (346) 490-4520 Research Assistant, "The Transborder Lifestyle" Study Jan–April 2026 Contact: Paula Michelle Ochoa, p.michelle.ochoaa@tamu.edu President, Ronald Reagan HS Model UN 2024–2025 | Led team, helped organize school conference Contact: Kirby C. Whitehead, (210) 579-7194 Competitive Delegate (4 yrs), Ronald Reagan HS Model UN 2021–2025 | Best Delegate (1st place) at 8 conferences Contact: Kirby C. Whitehead, (210) 579-7194 Founder & Organizer, Independent Online MUN Conference on Latin American Socio-Political & Economic Issues Sept 2024 | 25+ delegates from 4 continents Contact: Kirby C. Whitehead, (210) 579-7194 Recipient, Central Texas MUN Senior Scholarship (2025)

One of my proudest accomplishments is ideating and organizing the Hispanic Voices Summit Model UN conference” a virtual international conference focused on Latin American issues. After interning for an immigration law firm, I wanted to create a space where delegates could engage with topics focused around the Hispanic community, such as immigration policy on the southern border and dictatorial governments in South America. My interest in Hispanic issues was something I never would have shared so openly had I not found Model UN as an outlet to discuss my and many others' experiences growing up on the US-Mexico border, an experience many do not get the chance to share. By exposing international students to topics relating to my community with varying perspectives, nuanced solutions, and compelling arguments, I hope that I provided a learning opportunity I wish Americans had. I wanted this conference to reflect upon my commitment to education, global interaction, and empathy. As I pursue International Affairs at TAMU, and, later, my law degree, I hope to continue to educate on and explore the vast array of global perspectives.

Empowerment is the ability to embrace one’s identity, uplift others, and break barriers that confine potential. To me, empowerment is the driving force behind my commitment to leadership, education, and advocacy in all spaces. Empowerment has been at the core of my leadership journey. As a mentee in the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) High School Mentorship Program, I have had the privilege of learning from successful female entrepreneurs who have shown me the importance of resilience and collaboration with other girls my age. This, in addition to my experiences in Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA), have further cemented my belief in the power of breaking gender barriers. As the only girl in my section competing in the Business Finance event category, I faced moments of doubt, but I refused to be intimidated. My success as a Texas state finalist in this event is not just a personal victory—it is a testament to the importance of representation and perseverance in traditionally male-dominated fields. Competing in the largest DECA chapter in the world tested my composure, but I am beyond proud of what I have accomplished. One of my proudest accomplishments is organizing the Hispanic Voices Summit Model UN conference, a virtual international conference focused on Latin American issues. After interning for Suday Law's immigration law firm, I recognized the need for a space where delegates could engage with topics central to the Hispanic community. Growing up on the US-Mexico border, I witnessed firsthand how the media portrayed my home as mere barbed wire and desolation, ignoring the culture and resilience of my own friends and family. Through this conference, I sought to shift that narrative and provide a learning opportunity that fosters empathy, global awareness, and solutions-driven dialogue. In my role as president of my school’s Model UN team, I have worked tirelessly to foster an inclusive environment where students can develop diplomatic and leadership skills. Serving as a debate moderator for the International European Model UN, where I facilitated discussions among delegates from five continents, showed me the impact of creating spaces for diverse voices, regardless of nationality, class, age, or gender, to be heard. It is Sustainable Development Goal #5, "Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls," that has inspired me greatly in my pursuit to represent intersectional womanhood in both my role as my school's Model UN club president, as well as my engagement in international discussion. Even then, beyond business and diplomacy, my faith has played a crucial role in my advocacy for female empowerment. As President of the Project 7 Bible Club, I often seek to challenge notions that discourage women from leading discussions on theology and self-love. I've encountered more than a few boys who quote back to me 1 Tim. 2:12, as if it means anything in a world where Christ recognises the resilience of any woman who devotes her life to Him. "I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent." These words must be recontextualized, just as so many other verses have slowly been as equality continues to prevail. In the end, these same boys who repeat the verse to me know nothing of equality, but my female peers I lead in prayer will know it intimately and cling to it just as I have these past 4 years. Empowerment has shaped every aspect of my life, and I hope it will continue to as I complete my degree at A&M in International Affairs and, later, international law.