My name is Alejandro Romero, but my friends call me Alex. I was born in Hialeah Miami, to a Costa Rican father and Puerto Rican mother. When I was young my parents divorced. I was raised primarily by my mother and my Irish-American step-father in Hollywood, FL. I have two younger siblings, a brother on my mother's side, and sister on my father's side. Growing up, English was my first language and Spanish was my secondary. In middle school, I had the wonderful opportunity of going to Costa Rica with my father. While I always had an interest in foreign languages and cultures ever since I was young, I was amazed with how different daily life was in another country. In high school, I became fascinated with the Japanese language and culture and started teaching myself before having the opportunity to take it as a class. I studied Japanese for 4 years before finally getting the opportunity to participate in a student exchange program in the summer of 2009. To this day, I say that was the greatest experience in my life, and it has allowed me to see the world in a different way. Recently I have fallen in love with the Russian language and culture and wish to pursue the same great experiences I had during my Japanese Studies. My goals in life are to use my skills of languages and cultures to help improve international relations, and change some of the misconceptions people have towards other cultures.