I like to be called by my middle name, Erika. I’m originally from Bayside, in Queens, but I’ve lived in Flushing for the past six years. I graduated from Archbishop Molloy High School, a Catholic high school in Queens.

I was born in New York City, and I’ve lived here my entire life. Of my mother’s family, I was the first to be born in the U.S.–my mother, her siblings, my grandparents, and several other relatives were all born and raised in Barranquilla, Colombia and immigrated to the U.S. later in life. My father, on the other hand, was born in New York. On that side, my family goes back a long way–my grandfather’s grandfather immigrated with his family to South Dakota from Denmark in the late 1800s/early 1900s. My grandmother’s ancestors came to America from Germany, though…seeing as they came in the 1730s, it wasn’t the America we know today.

I originally came to Baruch thinking I wanted to major in accounting, or at least in something finance-related. Man, was I wrong. I ended up deciding that I would rather pursue a degree in something I’m actually interested in, which would be something related to the arts. I don’t know specifically what degree I’m interested in yet, but chances are, it’ll have something to do with creative writing.

I’m a fiction writer, by hobby and maybe someday by profession. I’m primarily interested in and influenced by fantasy, mythology, and the supernatural, all with modern elements to them. My favorite books and shows reflect that–I’m a huge fan of the writer Neil Gaiman (American Gods, Good Omens [with Terry Pratchett], etc.); of Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians and Heroes of Olympus series; of shows like Supernatural and The Walking Dead. These stories all have two things in common: they all deal with fantastic, mythological ideas, and they all take place in a modern time and place.

That’s where my love for New York City comes in. To be clear, I don’t use “love” lightly–one of my friends once compared my love for the city to romantic love, and it’s almost not an exaggeration. I don’t think I could live anywhere else full-time; I’ve been to London, Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, and a handful of cities and islands in Mexico and the Caribbean, and none of them can compare to New York City. I love everything about this city, even the downsides, to a certain extent. So, combined with my love for modern mythology, it ends up giving me the muse to write my own stories.