Naty Rico shares her story of struggles at UC Irvine over the past three years and the hopes she has for the future.

Naty Rico is a third year sociology and education double major. She was born and raised in South Los Angeles to parents who immigrated here from Mexico. As a first generation Latina woman with a physical disability, Naty managed to get accepted and enroll into UCI in 2012 with the help of her community back home.

While her three years at UCI have not been easy, Naty has managed to overcome structural barriers and has become an advocate for the differently abled community. After she graduates and receives her Bachelors from UCI, Naty hopes to enroll in grad school and continue doing work focused on the differently able community. She plans on obtaining a Ph.D. in sociology or education, with an emphasis in disability studies, and giving back to the community that helped her get to where she is and is supportive of where she's headed.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx