Teach For America, Traveler, Karaoke-queen!

"The minute you start comparing yourself to others is the minute you forget you're doing exactly what you're meant to do."

If you haven’t heard of Veronica Hernandez yet, you might be hiding under a rock. She’s one of our most traveled, passionate and involved alumnae sisters who has given her life to service and holds the award for Best Alumnae Regional Chair (West Coast), and for good reason.

Originally from the Tau Chapter at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Veronica’s turning point was when she left behind life as she knew it for the Teach for America Program in Los Angeles, California. She immersed herself into the students, the learning and her personal growth. She admits it was the toughest experience of her life and she couldn’t be more grateful. “My life was consumed by it and I fell in love with teaching.  We were put in what seemed to be impossible situations and we learned to change students' lives for the better. The connections I made are indescribable and my students still email me and I love it!” She’s currently in school acquiring her teaching certificate and continues her involvement with TFA by helping develop a Diversity Committee address concerns within the corps. Furthermore, she spearheads a sub-committee titled Corps Connections, whose purpose is to work with advisers to better the overall experience for corps members of color. Although she misses the students, she’s thankful for the times her patience was tested in the classroom and still finds time to volunteer with children. For MLK’s call to service day, she road-tripped to Long Beach, CA and helped with a mural and a book drive to benefit children in Mombassa, Kenya.

Realizing life is too short, she’s a master at multi-tasking. “As a teacher you can get lost in your work, but I learned that if I don't take time for myself I do my students a disservice.  So even if I have loads to do, I put it aside and enjoy some "me" time, and that usually involves some salsa dancing.” Besides dancing, Vero’s calendar is packed with bike riding at the beach, skydiving, reading, socializing and traveling across the nation to visit her KDChi sisters. She’s taken sister networking to a whole new level. “In 2003, we were the only chapter in the Midwest, so as I became an avid traveler and used resources like facebook, myspace, and chapter emails to contact sisters and arrange times to meet. She’s traveled to New York, Arizona and reunions regularly with Tau sisters in Miami, FL. “In joining KDChi I never believed I’d have the amount of close relationships with sisters cross-country as I have now. We have so many sisters doing great things around the country and abroad. They  inspire to pursue my goals. I truly know that wherever I move in the future, as long as there are KDChi sisters there, I will be okay.”

The bucket list for the multi-tasking, chocoholic includes getting a Masters in Public Policy in education and international affairs and working with an organization writing policies to improve education. Hernandez also hopes to visit every Latin American country and will continue her karaoke-filled road-trips to meet more sisters. She involved with various KDChi committees, theatre, NALFO and serves as Alumni Advisor for Alpha Gamma chapter. She just got engaged and resides in Carson, CA where she hopes to soon welcome home a black pug puppy.