“Oh, the places you'll go! There is fun to be done!-Dr.Suess
Oi! My name is Ashley Anne Fuentes and I was born and raised in Miami Florida. I believe in positive thinking and the energy of others and I’m sure that if you have faith nothing is impossible. I have amazing Cuban parents who are very excited for my journey but like anyones parents, they don’t want to let go. The irony of having to let go of someone you love is that it takes a lot of love to be able let go of someone and allow thier journey in life to begin. I also have an older sister Nicole, 20 years of age who I love to the end of this world and back.
I am currently a senior at a conservatory style art high school, New World in downtown Miami studying music theater. Unlike most high schools we do not have a football team or cheerleaders sports or homecoming but we have the advantage of having amazing teachers to teach us their knowledge of the craft they love so much. I am also a part of a traveling performance group called Connection, in which we perform rock musical numbers for charities and hospitals to spread around the love for musicals that my members and I share. Acting has impacted and altered me and my personality in ways unimaginable and for that I am forever grateful to the art of theater. I also work in a children's museum on miami beach that inspires children to learn about themselves and the culturally diverse community they live in, and to enrich the lives of kids by helping them reach their highest potential and I simply get to be apart of their learning roller coaster.
My friends and family are an extraordinarily large aspect of my life. My good friends consist of a theater class of 16 students of whom I have been with for 7 years and have gown ridiculously close to. And my family is a large cuban family that loves food music and simply getting together.
During my year in Brazil I want to find myself lost in their culture, their world so much that returning home will be an exchange in itself. I want to learn and teach and really enjoy my year to its fullest potential.
I'm simply just a Miami student living life, trying to figure out where I'm going, what I'm supposed to be doing and just taking advantage of every opportunity that appears. I crave adventure and discovery and that is essentially how I came across rotary. I saw the chance, the opportunity to change my life and I grabbed a hold of it! Know one says it better that Dr. Suess,
“You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.”
I am so ready for the adventures, challenges, culture and fun that brazil has to offer me! Até mais tarde!