What are you known for?

Well, the first thing that popped in my head was ‘Mayra the Bachatera’—bachata is a type of Latin dance—and, originally, people have seen me as a really good bachata dancer, and in general, just a good dancer. I know that’s kind of something small, but bachata and Latinx dance is a passion of mine, you know? A couple of months back—I think I was still kind of known as a bachata dancer—I don’t know. It’s a really intense question. That’s a good question that I don’t know the answer to, so yeah.

Do you dance much now?

Not as much as I used to. I think, maybe, the older you get—I’m just kidding. No, I don’t really do as much dancing. Before I would do it like once a week, or twice a week. And now, it’s more occasional. It’s kind of like, ‘Hey, it’s a Saturday night; there’s nothing else to do,’ I dance with my friends, siblings, and I might just go out to social nights.

Is it because of lack of time or is it something you’re not as passionate about?

I can’t say it’s not something I’m passionate about, because once I hear the music, my body just starts, you know, doing every single step. I start hitting every rhythm. But it’s more like, once you get home from work, you’re tired. Usually, I would go on a Tuesday night, like King Neptune [King Neptune is a restaurant that often holds social Latinx dancing nights]. Once you have a job, a full-time job, you kind of just get a little tired. On the weekend, you kind of just want to be by yourself, at home, relaxing, or then you have errands to do, chores, stuff like that, so it’s like, ‘Who has time for dancing?’

What do you like to do in your free time?

I don’t know. That is a good question; that’s kind of sad. In my free time, when I have nothing to do, sometimes I just get in my car, and just drive somewhere. Just because I don’t want to be in the house too long, you know what I mean? I have nothing to do at the house, I just get in my car, and drive. I’ll drive somewhere, whether it’s somewhere in Wilmington, somewhere in Burgaw, somewhere in Porter’s Neck, just so I don’t have to be in the house. I just kind of listen to music in my car; that’s kind of relaxing. That’s not really a hobby, but yeah. If you had asked me this like, two years ago, my answer would have been like, ‘Dancing!’ Now I’m like, don’t know…

You just go with the flow?

Yeah, there it is! I just go with the flow. It’s kind of bad. It’s good and bad, you know? It’s good because you’re not really stuck to routine, but at the same time, it can make your mind unorganized.

What’s something that inspires you?

I think one thing I know inspires me is knowing the fact that where I am right now will not be where I am in the future. I may not be wording this right, but it’s like—every time I see a professional or talk to somebody new, the first question I ask is, ‘How did you get here?’ And I love to listen to their job experience, their past experiences, to see how someone got where they are. Like with someone with a degree, I love listening to their steps. I know they went to school, their past experience. I feel like what’s so fascinating is, you could start as like, a housekeeper, which is not bad, nothing negative or to look down upon. But it’s so amazing to see somebody who like, ended up as a housekeeper and ended up having a doctoral degree.

I think like, ‘Mayra, I’m here at UNCW working [Mayra works as a Spanish translator at Centro Hispano] I was kind of clueless. I mean, I’m still kind of clueless of where I want to go. But it kind of inspires me that seeing others’ pasts, the paths that they’ve taken, I’ve seen that I’m not going to be here for the rest of my life, or at least I won’t be here too long, you know? I love working at UNCW, but I want to see myself elsewhere. I think what inspires me is that something’s going to change, and I’m going to like that change, or, even if it’s going to be hard, it’s going to be a nice change. And it’s going to lead me to where I really want to be.