Born and raised in Valladolid, Spain, she has been teaching at USC since 2001, when she was admitted to the M.A. Program in Spanish as a graduate student. She came to the US in 2000 and spent a year studying at Mount Holyoke College. She moved to South Carolina in 2001 to attend USC and earn a M.A. in Spanish and Latin American Literature . She was on her way to Florida in 2003 to pursue a PhD when she was offered a full time instructor position at USC, so she stayed in Columbia instead.