From Classics to Copilot
Some spaces never felt built for people like me.
I went from graduating bottom of my class in high school to graduating from the UH Honors College as valedictorian from the University of Houston, where I majored in classical studies and earned a full academic fellowship to study classics at the University of Pennsylvania, where I completed my M.A. I was awarded the Benjamin Franklin Fontaine Fellowship, which goes to students pursuing degrees in fields in which they are typically underrepresented.
I’ve always stood out in places that didn’t look like they were meant for me. After college, I broke into corporate America. Fast forward, I now work for the world’s leading tech company, where my humanities degrees give me an advantage in the human-centric work of data privacy for security and AI.
I’ve never been more tech focused or technically sharp in my life than I am now, but the beauty is that I still hold on to what makes me human, the ability to think deeply and frame today’s challenges in the context of ancient problems and solutions. Most of the issues we face today have already happened in some form.
AI won’t replace people. People who know AI will replace people who don’t. But those who lean into their human strengths while embracing AI will be the top tier contributors, the ones best positioned to scale their value.
This week, I’m presenting to students in the Accenture 2025 Level Up Program, which supports underrepresented college talent exploring pathways into tech and innovation.
This program is important to me because young students, especially those who look like me and come from similar backgrounds, need this kind of early, thoughtful guidance. They need to see that they can own their stories now and shape their journey in ways that let their uniqueness shine.
Even now, as a non-coder, a classics major, and a Tejano working in big tech, I’m still in rooms that might not seem built for me. And that’s exactly why I belong, because the world needs perspective from people who’ve lived differently. Living differently means thinking differently, and thinking differently is what gives the world a diverse portfolio of solutions to tackle the problems we face.
Tech isn’t just code. It’s people. And the more kinds of people, the better. This is the heartbeat of tech.