Belén is our front desk receptionist who gives you a warm welcome when you walk through our door. She is a University of Houston alumni with a B.A. in Chinese Studies and a minor in Spanish. She is a native Spanish speaker and has intermediate fluency in Mandarin Chinese. Belén participated in various competitions during college to refine her Mandarin, such as the CLTA-Texas Chinese Essay Contest and the 19th Greater Houston Area Chinese Speech Contest where she received 1st place. In her senior year, Belén volunteered as a Spanish interpreter at the university’s law center immigration clinic. She practiced simultaneous interpretation in mock trials and received insight on legal document translation. Her experience left her with a lasting impact on how interpretation and translation play a crucial role in legal cases. After graduation, Belén studied abroad in Taiwan to further advance her learning on Chinese culture and language. During her free time, she recently began to journal and continues to study Chinese to stay on track with her language learning journey.