Natalie Villarreal has to think when asked her age. Perhaps that’s because she has done so much more than the average 23-year-old.

At just 11, Villarreal was on her way to a career as a ballerina. “I trained 30 hours a week even through school,” she said. Yet she still managed to graduate from high school as an honor student.

After graduation, Villarreal became a professional dancer for Ballet Chicago. Unfortunately—or fortunately—the glamorous industry quickly lost its appeal. “I trained there for a year, but wasn’t happy. I felt isolated. You’re always in front of a mirror and all you see is yourself. Everyone says that being on stage is when you get to connect, but the lights are too bright. It’s like you’re your own little jewelry box—you’re really just playing a character.”

So Villarreal decided to pursue a different dream: going to college. Today she’s a senior English literature major who is working toward a minor in writing. Now she connects through extracurricular activities. Villarreal is the managing editor of the UCD newspaper, the Advocate, and is responsible for its current and successful format.

Villarreal also has an internship with The Bloomsbury Review, a book review magazine with a circulation of 125,000. “It’s not for credit or for pay,” she said. “I love it there.”

Villarreal is passionate about equality and constitutional rights demonstrated by her role as president of Gender Issues, Scholarship and Action. Her motivation stems from the ballet world: “I had a teacher who said ‘if you can, you must.’”

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