Vanelis Rivera was born in Puerto Rico, and grew up in the the U.S. Virgin Islands. After attending college back in Puerto Rico she was accepted into a graduate program at the University of Louisiana at Monroe, and after graduation took a position teaching English Composition. Outside of teaching Van also writes both a food and a music column for Bayou Life Magazine, a Monroe based monthly publishing featuring local people and events. In this podcast we talk a bit about what has inspired Van to pursue journalism, English, music, a bit of modeling, and we even talked a bit about immigration along the way! Enjoy!