DFW Young & Social is filled with unique and wonderful individuals and it wouldn't be the same without you! Our Member Spotlight gives us the chance to say thanks for being a part of the community, and to highlight our wonderful members.

Meet Andréya, our outstanding member of the month.

What is your favorite hobby?

My favorite hobbies would be singing and dancing. I've danced since the age of 3 or 4. In fact, my first dance class was a Tap class that my Mom took me to. I was very nervous to be by myself, and I'd never taken a dance class before. To help me feel more confident and more at ease, my mom attended the class with me and showed me some of the steps when I struggled to understand them. Ever since then, I've been dancing--tap, jazz, ballet, hip-hop, salsa, bachata, merengue. Additionally, when I was younger, I sang in church choirs and school choirs during elementary and middle school. When I entered high school, I began to do theater and discovered my love for musical theater.

Are you currently binge-watching any shows?

I speak Spanish, and I have recently become OBSESSED with a Colombian telenovela on Netflix called "The Marked Heart" (Pálpito)". It centers around a woman who is in dire need of a heart transplant. Her husband, desperate to save her life, hires the services of organ traffickers who kidnap and murder a married woman for her heart, which is given to the first woman in need of a transplant. However, the first woman and the husband of the murdered woman cross paths and their lives are forever changed! It's definitely a wild ride and I highly recommend it.

Who is someone who's made a big impact on your life and why?

I would say my Mom is someone who has made a big impact on my life. We had very similar personalities and interests: both tenacious, ambitious, and creative. She comes from a musical family and I guess she passed those genes down to me. When I was first learning salsa and bachata, she would accompany me to different dance socials around the metro Atlanta area. We always had a blast together and she was one of my best friends. I think she had such a big impact on me because she always lived life to the fullest. She tried to enjoy every day and I think that spirit is something I have tried to embody since her passing.

Favorite DFW YAS event so far?

I truly enjoyed the Vitruvian Salsa Festival that I and other members attended. I enjoyed hanging out with everyone outside of classes and practicing my moves "out in the wild", as they say.

Favorite place I've traveled?

This is a hard one, but I think my favorite place I've traveled to thus far has been Oahu, Hawai'i. I vacationed there in February 2022 for my birthday and truly enjoyed being there. The landscapes were breathtaking. I learned to surf there. I went on several challenging hiking excursions but my favorite part was visiting the Polynesian Cultural Center. The PCC is a cultural attraction and living museum that educates the public about Polynesian culture, history, and its people. It encompasses seven simulated villages (Hawai'i, Fiji, Tonga, Aotearoa (New Zealand), Samoa, Tahiti, and Rapa Nui) in which performers demonstrate various arts and crafts from throughout Polynesia. The tickets aren't cheap, but I highly recommend purchasing the deluxe package which includes visiting all 7 villages, having dinner provided where you can try traditional Polynesian food, and attending their evening show Ha: Breath of Life.

Favorite motto or quote?

My favorite motto is "I work to live; I don't live to work." I started my nursing career in 2020, right when the COVID-19 pandemic started. I worked in critical care/ICU and was really challenged during that period.

Unfortunately, many units around the country lost nurses with decades of experience and knowledge that would have been invaluable to impart to new graduates like myself. During nursing school, I worked as a nurse tech in a busy, downtown emergency department and came across many critically ill patients, so I understood that, though we might try, not every patient will be saved. Some patients die and that's a natural part of the life cycle. However, working during the pandemic, I witnessed an unprecedented amount of death and truly understood how fleeting and precious life is. I was treating patients who were my age or not much older than me--it was a very sobering experience. I, along with many nurses during the pandemic, was working so many hours that I began to burnout. So, when I transitioned to a new specialty (Cath Lab), I told myself that I was more than my job, and began to really work on having a better work-life balance. DFW YAS has helped me do that by reigniting my love for dance and allowing me to meet other people who share that interest.