Back in Town

Name:  - Avanzando L.A.: A Los Angeles Latino Sucess Network Your network is your net worth. Everyone has heard that saying, and it really feels like it holds true, especially at USC where the Trojan network leads to many opportunities. I personally have taken advantage of this network and the many opportunities that USC provides us. But what happens when you don’t have access to this network? What happens if you don’t see college as an attainable opportunity? Unfortunately, this is the reality for many Latinos that don’t have the proper career guidance or mentorship. That’s why Avanzando L.A, which translates to “going forward L.A.” aims to provide a mentorship program for schools all over Los Angeles that helps guide students toward success. I have had the privilege of having mentors and older siblings to help guide me through school and university. In middle school, one of my teachers saw a lot of potential in me and guided me to apply to high schools, a concept that was foreign...

It is difficult for me to imagine following a dream in “the real world” since nobody wants to work a 9-5. I came to USC to break the cycle of working manual labor jobs in my family and community. I plan to work in consulting for the foreseeable future and want to help make a difference in the Latino community. I am a strong believer that education is the best way to break the cycle of poverty. Be it a formal education by going to college or an informal education by seeking a mentor, education is key to success. Ideally, I would like to mentor kids in underserved communities and offer scholarships for education and transportation. Far too many children are forced to start working young and don’t pursue education because it is not a priority when rent is due next week and your family is struggling to make ends meet. It is hard to dream big when you don’t even know what is out there in the world. The first time I heard of investment banking, consulting, and private equity was at USC. Ther...

I hate ads. I used to just buy whatever “premium” account I needed to avoid watching them but it has become ridiculous. There's now so many streaming services and subscriptions I need to buy just to get rid of some stupid ads. This had led me down a rabbit hole of technology to limit the amount of ads I see on a daily basis and take control of my viewing experience. The most basic solution are ad-blockers. There are a couple ad-blocking solutions for desktops/laptops that can perfectly block YouTube ads but they have limited success for websites. As ad-blockers have become more prevalent, websites have started detecting them and requiring them to be disabled to view content. Many website are more ads than content and have a terrible viewing experience. Although there are solutions like Adguard, which is a DNS level ad-blocker, they are more involved to set up and do not block EVERY ad on streaming services or websites. To truly remove the ads and stop paying subscriptions to view c...