Edited and produced multimedia CD-ROM versions of braille music texts for sighted and blind users with Opus Technologies (1996-1999) Learned basic apiculture and taught children how to milk goats, feed chickens, and collect garden greens on Slide Ranch, a small farm in the coastal wilderness of Marin County (1995) Triaged, coordinated, and assisted ambulatory-care patients as a community health worker at the Los Angeles Free Clinic (Jesuit Volunteer Corps, 1994) Traveled by ship and studied the diverse cultures of 10 port cities on Semester at Sea with the Institute for Shipboard Education, (Spring, 1993) B.S. in Environmental Systems Technology, Dept. of Agricultural & Biological Engineering, Cornell University (1994) Cycled 583 miles from San Francisco to Los Angeles to raise support for people with AIDS in California AIDS Ride 4 (1997)

Monica has tried to live her life in the spirit of generosity. Her experiences have taught her that our dreams, aspirations, and hopes can certainly be accomplished once we tap into the enormous potential the world offers, and thus, it is absolutely necessary for us to develop our talents and learn how to share them with others. We never know how we might touch another person's life by simply being who we are meant to be.

Canadian-born of parents who immigrated from the Philippines, then moved to South Florida & southern California, Monica respects the unity that can be found in the beautiful variety of people around the world. She has a particular fondness for the social, cultural, physical, and emotional impact of different religions on the people who practice them.

Monica professes a deep interest in the effect of communities on the individuals, particularly the children, who live in them. Monica also realizes that oftentimes, communication between people who cannot or do not try to understand one another can lead to misunderstanding and suffering. As a musician, she finds great joy in speaking to the hurt or sometimes inaccessible parts of the heart that cannot be touched by written or spoken words alone.

Monica resonates with the idea that to whom much has been given, much is expected. Gifted with a compassionate heart and an attentive ear, she hopes that children around the world, including her two younger siblings, can join her in attempting to truly understand themselves, their families and friends, and their communities. From that understanding she champions the idea that we can gain an even stronger respect for the tremendous responsibility we as human beings have to ourselves, to each other, and to the planet.

Monica likes chocolate-chip cookies, birds, grand art, blooming flowers, family gatherings, swimming in the ocean, the uniqueness of individuals (in all sizes and colors), smiling, crocheting, and reading stories.