“We should never appear what we are not; you represent your true story.”
Amanda Barrios, originally from Paraguay, a participant in the VLB4 developed in Portuguese, is 18 years old and has many skills, one of which is a passion for mathematics and for playful games such as Chess. This ability means a lot to Amanda. It has been present throughout her life because her father is a mathematics teacher and instilled this knowledge in her from a very young age, leading to her winning a medal at the National Mathematics Olympics in Paraguay.
One of the points that have marked Amanda’s life is knowing herself in such a way that in 2018, having questions in various areas of her life led her to wonder who she really was, what was what that she liked and was passionate about, according to that is that she also decided to take a sabbatical year, to be able to carry out different activities that she likes and that attract her attention to be able to demonstrate his cognitive and socio-emotional skills in each project she undertakes, in such a way that all this time, she has been involved in different activities that help her in this process of rediscovering herself.
Currently, she is organizing a Neuroscience project with other alumni from Peru to be able to achieve that neuroscience is implemented in education since it’s a really important factor. As this is connected with the educational system, this project is still in the planning stage, but surely in a few months, we will have more news about how this is going. In addition, she has projects such as being a coach in the Latinx V-Club, because she has Portuguese skills and, in this way, helps more people in the LALA community learn both Spanish and Portuguese through different activities.
“If I jump off the cliff, I know the LALA community will be there to catch me.”
On the other hand, Amanda, before she entered and immersed herself in the LALA community, started with the process of knowing herself, trying to really find what she is passionate about in order to bring the true essence of herself to the world. When she joined LALA, this opportunity meant a block of ice, which she decided to break by showing herself vulnerable and being herself in front of her bootcamp colleagues in this way, showing herself as she is. This complemented part of the process she had been following since 2018. Likewise, LALA changed Amanda the meaning of leadership. She understood that even though you do not have big projects, if you have carried out the actions from the heart and that they have really impacted people’s lives, that is really what it is worth.
Finally, Amanda closes by commenting that if a LALA ad appears, if someone tells you about LALA, if you see a LALA video, and something resonates with you, it is really because you have to apply, it is because you are going to belong in some way and because is perfect: “LALA will arrive at a perfect time for you.“
These stories are written and edited by the Storytelling Team, an alumni-lead team that collects stories with the objective of recognizing and celebrating the wonderful work that volunteers, staff, and alumni do for LALA and also to show how the organization has impacted their life.
