A techy girl from Miami - About Me

Hello, hello! My name is Laura, and I am an undergraduate student at FSU pursuing a BS in Marketing and a BS in Psychology (minor: Education). Growing up in Miami was an interesting experience, to say the least. I am surrounded by so many different cultures and exposed to a lot of my Cuban heritage. My parents immigrated to the US from Cuba, which informed and influenced a lot of my life goals. It was excruciatingly difficult to escape Cuba and, at times, dangerous. I think a lot about them and the journey they took to improve their lives. As such, my biggest dream has always been to use the opportunity they have provided me to expand my horizons outside of the US and go through my own immigration journey (albeit with a whole lot more privilege than my parents). To speak more lightly, I also have a dog who will accompany me and a wonderful boyfriend who I can share my dream with. At the moment, we are trying to start up a freshwater planted tank in a 30-gallon bio-cube. We just filled the tank with plants yesterday, along with some hardscape and three German Golden Rams. We're hoping it turns out well! Below are some pictures :D

When it comes to being in an educational setting, I have mostly been a student my whole life. However, I have also shared a lot of the technology and skills along the way with other professors and instructors. For example, I take notes using GoodNotes on my iPad Pro (11-inch, 2018) with a 2nd Gen Apple Pencil. Note-taking on my iPad saves me a lot of time while also allowing me to create beautiful and memorable notes in class. Below are a few examples of some of my notes (though not all of them are so high effort). The great thing about GoodNotes is that you can go upload all sorts of files onto your notes to make them interactive or more detailed, like I have in my own notes. Notably, you can download PDF files (such as textbooks) to annotate as much as you'd like.  

As for my Personal Learning Network, I (responsibly) use YouTube a lot! Of course, my professors and peers have also been incredible guides to help me grow and find useful tools to improve my learning experience. Although I look to many different YouTube channels to help inform me, to list a few good ones I like to watch: Kurzgesagt, TedEd, and CrashCourse are a few timeless classics. I also learned a lot from the resources my job at Apple has to offer me. My manager at Apple serves as a great coach and mentor in my career. There are also plenty of networking opportunities that allow me to connect with very experienced and skilled people at Apple who help guide my journey and decisions.