 Since I was little, I like the cliche, I like to help people, like, that is me. Like, how can I make things better? How can I help someone? How can I make their day better? Taylor, such a rock star. She's amazing. I remember reading her application and just knowing that this was somebody that we really wanted in this program. My name is Taylor Valencia. I am a Trinity Fellow at Marquette University studying Environmental Engineering. The Trinity Fellows program is a graduate work-study program that places social justice-minded students who want to have a master's degree. So they're full-time graduate students at Marquette in one of 15 disciplines, and then they work in a non-profit organization in Milwaukee while they're going to school. I decided to join the Peace Corps. While I was in Thailand, I realized the importance of water. Nobody should drink water and literally get sick where they can't get out of bed for a certain period of time. And it really shaped my whole thought process about I want to focus on environmental engineering because I truly do think it impacts people on a survival level. I want to be at the forefront of educating people so they know what they're drinking and how they can make sure it's as safe as it possibly can be. I applied to five different grad school programs while I was finishing up my Peace Corps time. And Marquette's program is the only one that mentioned social and economic justice and equity within the program. And I had never seen those words before on the other grad school program website. So when I got back from Peace Corps, I was like, I'm going to Milwaukee. The students just are really dynamic. They're able to really bridge so many different ideas and make connections. And they're just really passionate individuals. And that's really where Marquette and the Trinity Fellows program blossoms because we are only as strong as the people that are connected to our program. We tend to attract a lot of idealist overachievers, I would say, who have very strong hearts and have a really broad capacity. I actually created a purpose since I've been at Marquette. The Trinity program is amazing. We have monthly reflections just to check in with each other, see how everyone's doing, is everyone coping well with balancing grad school and working part-time during the school semester. Because of the support I've received from Trinity, I've been successful as a grad student at Marquette because grad school is very challenging. The original director of the program, Tom Jablonski, I believe, used to say that there's a fit and there's a spark that fellows have to come in with. That we aren't here to ignite the spark. We're here to fan the flames.