Letitia Gallego Cruz came to the University of Miami alone, leaving behind her family in Cuba.
“The curiosity of knowing a country forbidden to Cubans drove my sudden decision to come to this new land,” she said. “The fact that I had to leave my family behind made my decision hard to swallow, but my grandfather always said, ‘What easy comes, easy goes.’ I found courage to conquer the obstacles, such as the new language, along the way. It is said that knowledge is the only treasure nobody can take from you.”
Gallego Cruz said the diversity of UM appealed to her, including the chance to travel and meet people from other cultures.
“Coming from a country where travelling is prohibited, I must say that the most memorable experience as an undergrad was to have the opportunity to travel with my peers around Europe,” Gallego Cruz said.
“In terms of [the School of] Architecture, I felt attracted by the work developed by then-Dean Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk. Her work in New Urbanism, aiming to potentially solve some of society’s problems today through architecture, was intriguing to me,” she said.
Gallego Cruz double majored in art and architecture, has excelled academically, and is the 2015 winner of the Phyllis Garvett Undergraduate Drawing Award.
Upon graduation, Gallego Cruz will be employed at BEA Architects, and she hopes to continue mixing art and architecture in her professional life.
“I felt [submitting my drawing] was a potential experience towards this dream. I also saw it as an opportunity to interact with my peers at College of Arts and Sciences in a more professional environment outside the classroom,” she said. “Unlike architecture, art allows free creativity without constraints of any kind. On the other hand, architecture has a functionality that serves others with the potential of helping better their lives.”
