Originally from Uvalde, Texas, I am a fourth generation South Texas attorney. I received a B.A. in Spanish from the University of Texas at Austin. While at UT, I was a member of the Silver Spurs, an honorary service organization, and I studied at the Universidad de Sevilla in Spain as well.

I attended Baylor Law School, where I graduated with honors. At Baylor Law School, I served as Senior Executive Editor of the Baylor Law Review. An article I wrote, Guitar Holding: A Judicial Rewrite of the Texas Water Code, was published in the Fall 2009 edition of the Baylor Law Review. The American Agricultural Law Association selected this article (which hit close to home because it dealt with Texas water issues) as the best student written article concerning an agricultural issue in the country for 2010.

After law school, I had the honor of clerking for one year for the Honorable Andrew S. Hanen, US District Judge for the Southern District of Texas. While clerking, I gained invaluable experience in legal writing and research, as well as the opportunity to observe courtroom activities on a daily basis, and learn from a federal judge.