I am originally from Charleston, SC, in the United States but live in Clemson, SC to attend Clemson University as a student of architecture and music during the school months. During Spring 2018 I studied abroad in Barcelona, Spain at the Barcelona Architecture Center and traveled as much as I could on my weekends!

I began falling in love with architecture when I was 8. I had always loved drawing and crafting with my Grandma, and as I grew up my parents soon realized I was a planner. Every week I would draw plans and axonometric drawing of my bedroom to rearrange furniture in the space. When the plan seemed right, my sister and I would shift the furniture and test the new orientation. It often led me to tears because of the major impact the arrangement in space had on me. It took many may iterations to fit the space just right. What I took from this phase of my life was a love for drawing, planning, and a realization of how space can impact its inhabitants. My love for architecture grew as I took things to more literal levels of practice when I drew up the design to renovate my parents' kitchen when I was 13. From then I continued to sketch, build models, and read about architecture before my time for college came and I was accepted into my dream school, Clemson University.

I am Puerto Rican on my mother's side and though it doesn't show on my skin it does show in my interest with native speakers. I was so lucky to go abroad in Barcelona and immerse myself in the Spanish and Catalan language besides my annual Puerto Rican family reunions. I hope to be fluent in Spanish one day.

I love walking for miles and miles. I once walked a marathon around NYC just on a Saturday while exploring. I get so much joy from getting myself from one place to another from the work my body does so I always choose walking over anything. I do enjoy working out, but that's mostly a mental stimulation for me since all the walking takes care of the rest!

I would describe myself as an active, compassionate, hard-working, adventurous, romantic. Like I already explained above with the furniture rearrangement, I have come to love how compassionate certain experiences make me. There is so much power in music. I love sharing that with people above all else. I love to dance (though I'm not as good as I would like to be!) and want to dance frequently. I work hard because I believe "the way you do one thing is the way you do everything" so why not be your greatest? I love to try new things and want to see new places. I'm a firm believer in "look before you shoot" because I think today's society focuses too much on making the image last forever and not the moment so I choose to look before I pull out my camera. I also love learning and teaching new things. I'm currently trying to teach myself to code with HTML and CSS. I want to have a greater understanding of structure so engineers can stop making fun of architects haha

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I enjoy meeting new people and creating networks. I think this is a great opportunity to learn about other cultures while visiting new places and how could I pass that up?

Spain is the first country I've visited outside of the USA territory so I did my best to make the most of my four months abroad. I visited Tarragona, Madrid, and Toledo, the Netherlands, Palma de Mallorca, Athens, and Valencia.

While interning in NYC, my boss hosted his Icelandic architect friend of many years for an office party and the Icelandic architect left a major impression on me. He said (speaking to myself and two other interns) "whatever you do, spend all your money on travel" and he shared stories of the wild places he has visited and we stayed for hours past the end of work. So that's exactly what I'm doing.

Couchsurfing allows me to meet people just like me- adventurous, lively, compassionate, fun, you name it. I look forward to building friendships through couchsurfing. As soon as I am back in an apartment and not a university dorm I will look forward to hosting couchsurfers!

Interests

• singing
• architecture
• photography
• beer
• running
• walking
• traveling
• drawing
• music
• live music
• guitar
• piano
• camping
• eating
• food
• sleeping
• flute
• exploring
• designing
• composing music
• learning spanish
• singing in the shower
• learning!
• sousaphone

Music, Movies, and Books

My favorite music is the kind I can make with other people. I miss playing in ensembles back in the States and singing in a choir so now every time I can get my hands on a public piano or guitar while studying in Barcelona I enjoy the short moments I get to make music. I brought my flute to Spain but I always feel more passionate getting to sing because it feels the most raw and pure.

artists I love: Vampire Weekend, The Lumineers, Flume, Snarky Puppy, The Head and The Heart, Mumford and Sons, Twenty One Pilots, The Eagles, Christina Perry

I wish I set aside more time for reading but I have not been good at following through with that!
Books: anything about architecture! distopian novels, and classics like Pride and Prejudice, Dracula, Little Women

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I don't have one big one so here are some small ones: I learned to play the sousaphone in 3 weeks, have published architecture work, interned in NYC, went skydiving in Chattanooga....

What I Can Share with Hosts

If you have any instruments I can share a fine love of music with you! I would love to share experiences and just talk to people. I need to slow down the pace of my life sometimes because the conversations to be had are rich and I don't want to miss them in the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

Countries I’ve Visited

Bahamas, Greece, Netherlands, Spain, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Spain, United States