"I come from a long line of Hoosiers and grew up in an Army family. This gave me the opportunity to live in several places in the United States as well as Europe, Japan and Mexico. I graduated from Zionsville High School and then earned a B.A. in Political Science from Wabash College in 2001. I went straight to law school after graduating from Wabash, and in 2003 earned a Doctor of Jurisprudence from Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego, CA.

I have always been an active citizen, volunteering in the community and working in government.

Community involvement and volunteerism have always been a big part of my life. For 5 years I participated in the HOSTS (Helping One Student To Succeed) reading program, a local peer mentoring program for young children in Indianapolis. Since college, I have been volunteering my services throughout Central Indiana as a translator/interpreter for non-English speakers. I currently serve on the Board of Directors for CHIP, The Boy Scouts of America; Crossroads of America Council and the Indiana Latino Expo. In the past I served on the board of Beacon of Hope Center for Women, a support center for women and children victims of domestic violence and Partners of the Americas, a group of volunteers from many walks of life in partnerships between US states and Brazil to improve businesses and cultural ties between the two.

I am a native level speaker who has been speaking Spanish my entire life. I studied in Spanish speaking countries 3 different times to brush up on accents and local vernacular to supplement my education.

I have been a public speaker for over 10 years, both for myself and for elected officials (representing them in formal capacities). In addition, I have had numerous television and radio appearances in the Indianapolis market and ran my own public access tv show for the Mayor of Indianapolis.

My formal education from college and my doctorate dealt with civics, history, government, political science, and law. I also read numerous publications (in th" less...