Julia Alvarez Biography

Contrary to popular belief, there are many successful people with English degrees from A-List Hollywood stars to directors, CEO’s and politicians. I did not chose one of those people despite their very direct ways of influencing lots of people. I chose Julia Alvarez, a Dominican American author and poet. She received her Masters Degree in Creative Writing in 1975. Julia Alvarez is a writer by passion and drive and a leader as a side effect. Her writings are of international acclaim. Her most famous works include How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents and In the Time of the Butterflies. Julia Alvarez is everything I aspire to be and far more influential than I could ever hope to be. My favorite quote from Julia Alvarez does not come from

A leader’s goal should benefit as many people as possible. A leader cannot gain power without showing respect and trust to those who follow.” The best example of Julia Alvarez meeting the standards of my personal view of leadership is from an excerpt from her autobiographical work Something to Declare. The piece titled “Dona Aida, With Your Permission” is an essay addressing Alvarez’s identity as a Dominican American writer and why she writes predominately in English. Alvarez explains in a very tactful way how her identity was shaped by where she was born (New York City) where she was raised (The Dominican Republic) and where her life was built (The United States) to an older Dominican author, Aida Cartagena Portalatin. Alvarez cites that it is out of respect that she does not write in Spanish, “ a language [she] can speak but [has] not studied deeply enough to craft.” Her words are eloquent yet effective. She stands up for who she is, “a mixed breed,” a “pan-American, a gringa-dominicana, a synthesizing consciousness.” I think a leader should be self-aware and always acknowledge how they have gotten where they are

Her aspiration was to write, but fell in love with teaching along the way. My dream is to teach, but I fell in love with creative writing along the way. I think my strengths play a big part in my determination to do what I love. Growing up, I was determined that I was going to be a doctor because in my mind that was the only way for me to help others and make my family proud. I had no passion for medicine only the drive to do something good, and then in high school I discovered a passion for the English language that makes me never want to stop learning. Julia Alvarez proves that I can still help people in my chosen field. I can still make a difference. I want to use my intellection and my context and the vast archives of information I store because of my input strength to help shape the minds of future doctors or lawyers or writers or artists or world