An Introduction: María Cristina Aponte

This is me.

Hello everyone,

My name is María Cristina Aponte. I’m from the beautiful island of Puerto Rico in the Caribbean.

I am also the mother of a 23-year-old artist. She made me my Medium profile picture:

Illustration by Emily Santana (Author’s daughter)

But my real face is this:

Photo of the author, owned by the author.

Well, this was on my wedding day, five years ago. I am the wife of an amazing husband.

I am also the second born out of seven children. I come from a humble family, a childhood full of challenges, but also full of love. Both my parents were teachers, so education was important as we grew up.

I studied accounting; I have been a CPA since 2001. I work as a Controller in a not-for-profit company dedicated to protecting land of high ecological value in Puerto Rico. We have natural reserves and a lot of educational activities for visitors and volunteers. This is my executive side.

I also have an artistic side: I sing in a symphonic choir. That’s where I met my husband, and that’s what I really love to do. I wish I could describe the feeling when you sing in harmony with 80 voices and a symphonic…