I am a very proud NISO Plus 2021 Scholarship winner and a first-year graduate student in the MLIS program at San Jose State University. My career goal is to become an academic librarian/research professor so that I may help improve services and the campus environment for underrepresented/first-generation students, with a focus on autistic college students (ACS), as well as contribute to the (currently) small amount of research on ACS and their information needs and behaviors. I am excited to attend NISO Plus because it will enable me, as a neurodivergent, first-generation Latina from an underprivileged background, to have the opportunity to learn from experts in the field, make connections with professionals who can direct me in the best ways to help underserved populations, and to add my own (underrepresented) perspective to an important conversation.
