Arón Olegnowicz-Cruz; B.A. Political Science, B.S. Psychology; Class of 2024

FLAS Fellow in Brazilian Portuguese and Mandarin Chinese 

Where do you work and what is your current position?

Special Education Teacher with Teach For America (read a feature on Aron by CNBC here)

Tell us how you got there.

Teach For America is the nation’s largest nonprofit dedicated to eradicating educational inequity across the country. As a rising leader in unlocking socioeconomic mobility opportunities for youth globally, I sought frontlines experience at the onset of my career to understand the realities of education systems and the families they serve. I will carry these learnings into systemic roles in policy and business, through which I will scale my impact to deliver high quality education to children around the world.

How has FLAS and learning Portuguese and Chinese helped you throughout your post-graduate life?

This summer, I interned at the world’s largest consulting firm, where I worked with a major NGO to expand access to Educational Technology for economically diverse schools in Costa Rica. The client sought to expand to other countries in Latin America, which led me to conversations with consulting associates in Brazil to understand the future of the consulting firm’s international development efforts in the nation. These interactions were both in Spanish and Portuguese – and I felt confident to apply my Portuguese in this professional setting thanks to the preparation I received during my time as a FLAS fellow at Ohio State.

If you are a traveler, what is one of your favorite trips you have taken?

Originally from Mexico City, one of my favorite trips has been to an entirely different part of my birth country – Mérida, Yucatán!

Who or what inspires you and why?

My exceptionally bright students that I have the privilege of teaching – including their resilience and growth – are key sources of my inspiration every day. Their smiles, eagerness to learn, and development as young leaders in their communities inspire me in any space I enter and fuel my ambitions to continue delivering impactful work for them and children like them across the globe.