Claudia Hands

 

Hometown: Maracay, Venezuela

 

Major: Finance, International Business Certificate, and Global Perspective Studies Certificate

 

Languages: Spanish, English

 

Hobbies: Makeup, shopping, hiking, plants, movies, friends, family, getting to know new places, trying new foods, learning about new cultures and religions

 

Biography: I was born and raised in Maracay, Venezuela, which is around 1 hour and 30 minutes away from the Venezuelan capital, Caracas. Nevertheless, my origins are shaped by different cultures since my family is a melting pot. My mother's side of the family has Portuguese and Native Venezuelan influences while my dad's side has Dutch and Irish heritage. These mixes are very common in my country due to it receiving foreigners in need with open arms for many years.

 

In 2014, I was a recent high school graduate with the plan of coming to Portland to study English for six months and then returning to Venezuela to start nursing school. However, my plans changed dramatically while in Portland since things only got worse in my home country and my family decided that it would be better if I stayed to study in the city. For my luck, this change was not as drastic as I expected to be since, by the time I started college, I felt I was already a Portlander. By being surrounded with people from different origins, I realized that I had an urge for sharing the status quo my country was facing with others since many living inside of it could not learn the facts.

 

Ever since I learned that I would be studying in Portland, my goal was to attend Portland State for being a diverse and modern school. My plan came true in Fall 2018 when I enrolled in Portland State to finish my Bachelor's degree. While studying at PSU, I desired to learn more about other cultures, and ICSP now is only going to feed my eagerness to keep learning about new cultures.