From Valencia to Harvard — by design, not by accident.

I attended twelve different schools in twelve years before I ever set foot at Valencia. I grew up in Orlando. I started at Valencia College. I did the things every Florida student is told to do — and almost none of the things that actually matter. I figured out the real game late, and made it to the University of Florida. I figured out the next game late, and made it to Harvard. Each transition taught me the same lesson: the system rewards students who understand it early — not students who perform inside it blindly.

It started with one course registration. It ended in Harvard Hall, Room 101.

I earned my Master of Liberal Arts in History and Government from Harvard University (’17), focused on American political institutions, constitutional history, and the evolution of democratic leadership. That training — much of it in Harvard Hall, Room 101, under professors like Jeffrey Rollert — shapes everything I do today. It shapes how I read a transcript, how I sequence a semester, and how I write a personal statement.

Through the Harvard Club of Central Florida, I’ve supported alumni admissions education, interviewer training, and early-college awareness initiatives — helping Florida families understand how American higher education actually works, not how it’s marketed. I am also an active voice in Crimson Courage, the Harvard Alumni for Academic Freedom initiative, and have served the Phillips Brooks House Association during my Harvard years.

What I do now

I founded Ivy League Consulting to provide historically grounded, equity-driven academic and civic education to students across the United States and internationally — reaching hundreds of learners each year through workshops, mentoring, and digital curriculum. Early in that work I taught English to newly arrived Vietnamese immigrants in Orlando, and consulted students through the Harvard Undergraduate Foreign Policy Initiative.

Beyond Valencia is my Florida-specific extension of that work. I have briefed Orange County Public Schools leadership on Harvard pathways for Florida students. The pledge driving this firm is simple — and on the record:

“Let’s send the most students to Harvard out of any county in Florida.”

Beyond Valencia exists because almost nobody properly explains Florida transfer admissions — and because the gap between where students start and where they can finish is mostly information, sequencing, and accountability. Talent is distributed everywhere. The blueprint is not.

Why this work

I am a public historian and civic storyteller. My focus has always been on first-generation, immigrant, and international students — students who, like me, did not inherit the unwritten rules of how American institutions actually work. I write articles, video scripts, and teaching modules on the presidency, American democracy, and the stories behind our institutions, bringing history to audiences far beyond a single classroom.

Beyond Valencia is what happens when that civic-education instinct meets the specific, technical, decision-by-decision reality of Florida transfer admissions. It is not a tutoring service. It is not application help. It is a transfer strategy firm — managing every variable that influences admission, beginning with the first semester.