After multiple years of serving in many different leadership roles at Iowa State, Alejandra Flores is graduating after the fall semester as the first in her family to receive an education in the United States.

Flores served as International Student Council president from January 2020 to April 2021 and currently serves as graduate student liaison for Phi Alpha Theta. She is also part of the Student Advisory Board for the VP of Student Affairs and is the Director of Diversity and Inclusion for Student Government.

Flores spent most of her childhood in the place where she was born: Chihuahua, Mexico. She described her childhood as fun. As she grew up, Flores said she realized there were issues with the economy and cartel. Her family eventually settled in a suburb of Minneapolis, where she finished primary school.  

In high school, Flores discovered she wanted to study political science. More specifically, she wanted to help underrepresented communities, which she attributes to making her college choice difficult.

After applying to 12 schools, it came down to two of them, one in Chicago and Iowa State University. Part of what sold her on ISU was the beautiful campus and the financial support that the university provided to her. 

Flores’ favorite experience at Iowa State was her involvement with the Student Government as Director of Diversity and Inclusion and the International Student Council, for which she served as president. Flores enjoyed working with people who share the same goals of trying to help underrepresented students.

“It’s been really wonderful to get to work with other students and staff that are passionate about helping underrepresented people and students,” Flores said.

On her student government profile page, it said one of her favorite things to do is cook. Flores said she has been cooking since she was four years old when her grandmother would have her help with making soups and cutting up vegetables. She said she doesn’t necessarily have a favorite dish to cook, but she enjoys trying to cook different dishes from various cultures. However, Flores said she is particular about Mexican food, with it being her nationality.

“It maybe wasn’t the best idea to give a five year old a knife but I’ve been cooking since forever,” Flores said. 

When asked about her proudest accomplishment, she talked about a project that she worked on with others which involved a Canvas page for international students that had resources all put together in one place so they would be more accessible for them. 

After graduation, Flores plans to go for her master’s in international affairs, which she is currently applying to schools. While she waits to hear back, she hopes to either get a job through the university as a staff member or maybe do a political internship somewhere else.

Her general advice for underclassmen is to get involved as it’s a way to meet people, build resumes and find staff who will support you. Flores said this is also a good way to build connections and receive letters of recommendation. For people who want to go down her route, she recommends becoming involved with Student Government, but she says that you can get involved in anything.

“I think that if you take the leap forward and you find mentors to help you along the way, you can make home anywhere,” said Flores.