When I was young, people told me I was a “throw away” baby. At about 5 months of age, I was left alone in a crib in the dark. My 12-year-old sister was left to care for a toddler and two babies after my mother had left for a number of days. My older sister headed to the grocery store and tried to steal food because she had no money. This was “back in the day” of truancy officers and one was called by the store owner upon noticing my sister’s poor attempt at thievery. Within hours, my siblings and I were removed from the home and separated. After a few weeks in the hospital, I was sent to live in a foster home where I spent 12 years as a ward of the State of New York. On December 1, 1978, I was adopted by my foster parents as a subsidized “hard to place” child. My parents received a monthly government stipend for adopting me, a painfully shy Puerto Rican child. My childhood was riddled with uncertainty, fear, and abuse. But I did not succumb to it!

At the age of 14, I entered the work force. I held a part-time job throughout my middle and high-school years. "Despite my challenging home life, I had a mentor that encouraged me to excel in my studies: my adopted sister, Linda. Linda is the sole reason I was able to break the circle of poverty and abuse in my life. She supported my every desire to improve myself." When I was offered a scholarship to attend Cornell University, Linda made sure I got up and out of my situation. After graduating, I served for three-years as a social worker and child abuse investigator for Tompkins County, New York. Not wanting to simply “sit� at counsel table during court proceedings for the children I worked with, I realized that my desire to be a child advocate would best be met if I became an attorney; I wanted to speak directly to the judge! In 1990, I was offered a fellowship by the American Bar Association’s Council on Legal Education Opportunity project for minority and low income students. Following this six week course of study, I was accepted by the University of San Diego (USD) School of Law.