# @princetonspia on Instagram

- **Type:** Video
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/B6TH7rHhSrh
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/20742520-princetonspia-instagram
- **Posted:** 2019-12-20T15:13:37.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Princeton SPIA (@princetonspia) — https://gondola.cc/princetonspia

## Caption

#WooWho: “I was a Dreamer for over a decade. I was born in Ecuador but moved to Miami when I was five. At 18, I became a legal U.S. resident; it was around the time I registered for college. This was a huge deal for me and my family. It was something I’d dreamt of since I was six. On my wish list: a dog, go back to Ecuador, become an American. This was just part of growing up. As a family, we were never able to leave the country. There was always this fear that something could happen, so we didn’t travel. For as long as I can remember, I wanted to go beyond my borders. And the moment I could, my wings spread. I think this is what drew me into the international sphere. I wanted to meet the people I never thought I could — those I’d seen in movies or read about in books. Going into the honors college at MDCollege, I knew I’d eventually transfer (that was part of my program), and I ended up at smithcollege, which I really enjoyed. After graduation, I became a fellow at CHCI. By working with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, I started to understand how policy and politics work together. Then, I worked in a marketing agency in Miami, but I quickly realized I needed to make a bigger social impact. So I moved to D.C. and worked on international development programs in Nigeria, Syria, and Nicaragua. Now, I’m at the wilson_school as a Pickering Fellow. I applied to five graduate programs and got into all of them; I think the Pickering Fellowship has a lot to do with that. It opened up a lot of opportunities for me. As a fellow, I have a five-year commitment, and I’ll be going into foreign service after this. This was definitely my dream, and none of it would’ve been possible had I not become a citizen. It was that one piece of paper that opened the door to everything that followed. Looking back, I can still remember standing in front of 50+ people the day of my naturalization ceremony and thinking, ‘Yes. I am finally accepted into this place that always felt like home.’” – Maria “Ale” Moscoso MPA ’21 (Photo by eganjimenez). * #WooWho is a Wilson_School Instagram series featuring our community. Want to be featured? Comment or DM us.

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 95
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- **Comments:** 15

## Tags

woowho

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