My name is Alejandro Hernandez. I am a senior studying Biomedical Engineering at the University of Florida. I was born in Naples, FL, but I grew up in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia.

I have always been a fan of traveling and exploring different cultures. My first cultural immersion into a new place happened when I moved back to Florida, from Bolivia, when I was 15 years old.

Having grown up in South America, it was interesting to see the many differences that existed in the education system and personal relationships. I loved navigating these intricacies in my day-to-day life.

After high-school, I became a Gator, and from there, my international experience took off even further!

Explore this site to hear more.

Although I was born in Naples, FL, I moved to Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia when I was 4 months old. I grew up speaking Spanish for 15 years. Then, I moved back to Naples for high school. During my time in Bolivia, my mom would throw 4th of July parties at our house, we would buy everything from the American aisle at the supermarket and fill the house with American flags.

 

I still remember the first time I went back to Florida to visit family, and at the airport, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent, as he handed me back my passport, looked at me and said: "Welcome home." 

"Home" has often been a nuanced concept for me. What do I consider home? Whenever people ask me "where [I am] from?" part of me wants to ask them to specify: Do you mean biologically, geographically, patriotically, or culturally? 

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I think my wanderlust began from an early age, and it makes sense given my upbringing.