Meet the Mentor: Diana Trujillo-Rodriguez

Contact: dianatru@bu.edu
Gender Identity & Pronouns: She/her/them
Affinity Groups: gGLOBAL, gFIRST
Race/Ethnicity and/or Nationality: White/Latina
Languages: Spanish and English
Hometown: Bogotá, Colombia
Education: Graduate Program in Neuroscience (current)
Industry Interest: I am passionate about brain neurodegeneration and want to contribute to understanding it. Other than that, I love cooking, riding a motorbike, and going errands where I can.
Other Experiences: Fulbright Scholar, Tri-Alpha National Honor Society Member


Personal Facts/Hobbies:

I am a lucky person. I have had the great fortune of having the support of my family, friends, and mentors to achieve my goals. I came to Boston in September 2021 to complete a Ph.D. in Neuroscience on a Fulbright scholarship, and since then my life has been going the way it should be. I am not saying that it has been easy to get here, because sometimes people confuse luck with ease.

I was born and raised in the rough capital of Colombia, my parents are middle class with limited education, but with the ability to teach by example and dedication. I was taught that the world was very big. And they founded in me the desire to explore it. The public university I entered is among the country’s most selective, competitive, and diverse universities. It’s a tough place that shapes you as a person and as an agent. After further study and obtaining a master’s degree, I worked as an instructor for undergraduate Psychology, as a Project Coordinator, Lab Technician, and Neuropsychologist in a hospital’s intensive care unit. All this prepared me and opened the doors for me to read authors and researchers that today I have at BU as mentors and teachers. It is a thing that goes beyond a crazy dream!

I applied for the Fulbright scholarship in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and knew from the first moment that I wanted to be at BU. I was not wrong in my choice of program. Here I have found the hands that guide me to create, go beyond what I think I can give, and be a better student, human and professional every day. I am where I should be.

I have the best possible supervisors, bright teachers, and lovely classmates who are my extended family today. But it’s not easy, sometimes I can’t find the words to communicate my ideas, and sometimes my thoughts struggle to connect with my tongue. Sometimes I don’t know how to read social cues or sometimes I don’t know what to do. Sometimes I get lost among all the administrative and bureaucratic things that I did not learn in my country. And sometimes I still doubt that I can do it right. I am a C3 peer mentor because I think it is a way to give back. Those who have accompanied and supported me have made it easier for me to navigate. I can do the same for others, and share a little of that luck.