Julissa will be gradating from the College of Education at Butler University in 2021. During her studies she had the incredible opportunity to student teach at a public elementary school in Brooklyn, NY during the Fall of 2020 - imagine teaching for the first time and doing it remotely! She demonstrates what it means to be an Erie Eagle.

While at Butler University she earned her place on the Dean's List for earning straight A's. Among her many accomplishments, she served as Resident Assistant (RA) for a year and a half, is on the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Board for Butler's Student Government Association, and is a member of the Alpha Phi Omega National Service Fraternity. While studying she held not one, but two on-campus jobs and worked at a children's bookstore off-campus! Through all of these positions, she has been a fierce advocate for others and learned about communities outside of her own.

True to her roots, Julissa's student teacher position focused on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. She chose this elementary school in part because student-led service projects are a core value to the NY school community, especially in the 5th-grade classroom she taught in. "These values are important to me to become the best teacher I can be for the generations to come," she emphasized, "I will be able to pour out into my community in the ways my community has poured into me."