Aurora Lopez

Aurora Lopez ('21) desire to help others stems from her upbringing. As a Latina raised by immigrant grandparents and a 15-year-old mother, she was constantly dismissed and disrespected because of her economic and racial status growing up. She lived in a low-income neighborhood with underfunded schools; therefore, her family offered her their only opportunity for a good education by sneaking her into high performing schools in the neighborhood where her grandmother cleaned houses. She felt constantly ridiculed by the teachers and peers, and ended up being kicked out of school by the local undercover police for faking her address. While this incident hurt her, it opened her perspective of the implicit de facto segregation she saw within her neighborhood and those adjacent. Overall, she converted her negative experience into a goal of joining the United Nations to bring equitable education for children all over the world. 

During her undergraduate years, she joined several education programs where she facilitated classrooms and implemented several growth-mindset curriculums for at-risk youth. She also helped lead behavior interventions and even represented Spanish-speaking parents at schools and parent-teacher conferences. Aurora also spent one summer as a social media intern where she developed an online presence through creating educational-related content for students and parents. Through these posts, she was able to connect with several popular pages that worked with DACA, first-gen, and low-income students to promote educational programs. Moreover, she helped connect her company to a local, after-school nonprofit and created a scholarship opportunity to help disadvantaged, aspiring, entrepreneurial youth.

In preparation for a career in foreign relations, she has taken courses outside her major to gain a better understanding of international cooperation, such as Gulf States, Spanish, and Arabic courses. She also interned for the British Consulate General, where she worked with international personnel and assisted with events that included high-level officials. After drafting memos and researching local tech policies, she recognized the importance of research and shifted her focus into opportunities that included research. As a result, she has secured an internship position with the Department of State this upcoming spring 2021 UCDC semester. She will be interning with the Foreign Service Institute, helping assist Foreign Service Officers who wish to promote U.S. diplomacy around the globe. From this internship, she hopes to gain stronger research skills and a deeper comprehension of the nuances of diplomacy. Read her story.