Coming from a minority background, I've always noticed that there are unique difficulties that minority students face more often than non-minority students. In addition, a personal goal of mine is to help minority students be more academically successful, especially helping out with the Hispanic community. This is why my research interests focus on educational inequality and most importantly the effect of adverse childhood experiences (ACES) on academic success. More recently, I have shifted my focus towards exploring resilience and academic resilience at the state and national levels. Plus, research has shown resilience to be a protective factor when an individual is faced with adversity.