Yini Rodriguez is a book writer, blog writer, administrative coordinator, event planner, art promotor and to top all of that, she is a woman from Latin America. She was born on September 1, 1973, in Santiago, Dominican Republic. She lived in the Dominican Republic for a few years, completing a few of her educational requirements while she was there. In the 1980s, she moved to the United States with her family and has lived here ever since. When Ms. Rodriguez was asked to use a word or phrase to describe her childhood; she chose creativity and imaginación.
Yini Rodriguez completed the rest of her school years in America and even ended up with a Bachelor of Arts in Multilingual Journalism and Spanish. Also, completed a Master’s degree in Hispanic Literature as a student at Lehman College.
Throughout the years, Yini Rodriguez had to deal with insecurities and challenges of her own. The missing presence of her father took a toll on her and who she was. She struggled with the loss of her brother due to suicide and battling with an eating disorder. For a period of time, her eating disorder was controlling her life. She wasn’t proud of the person her eating disorder made her and wanted to make a change. Yini Rodriguez stated that:
“One of the biggest obstacles I have overcome is my eating disorder. I would just throw up everything I ate. I knew I wanted to get better but I will always end up throwing up in my bathroom. I knew it was going to take time but I looked at myself in the mirror and knew who I wanted to be, so I started from there. It took time but I got better.”
( Interview with Klaudia Rodriguez)
After overcoming her eating disorder, she knew it was time to face all the other demons from her past in order to become the person she wanted to be. Writing became a way for her to face those demons and heal from them, which led to her majoring in Multilingual Journalism in college. Since writing helped her healing process, she wrote a book called “ Crónicas de La Mariposa.” Throughout the book, you are able to read about the author’s life ( Yini Rodriguez), her experiences, her thoughts, and the people around her, but she perceives herself as a butterfly throughout it.
She also started a blog named “ Chronicles of Butterflies”, which contains short stories that express what happens in her life, where she travels, and more. During an interview, Yini Rodriguez was asked what motivated her to write her books and blogs. Yini Rodriguez answered with :
“ I consider myself to be an open book, but I use my past experiences to write my books. With the experiences of losing a sibling, my father in jail, my eating disorder, and other things I have been through, I use my writing as a healing process. Writing helps to acknowledge what happened, heal and leave it in the past instead of holding on to it forever.”
( Interview with Klaudia Rodriguez)
Yini goes on to explain how she thinks it’s important to share her story, her challenges, and how she overcame everything with the world because it might be able to help others. She is also working on a one-woman show that tells her life story.
Yini Rodriguez currently works at Lehman College as an administrative coordinator and event planner; while also being an art promoter. She elaborates on how working in the Dean’s office allows her to be in charge of all the different departments while also being exposed to different kinds of art. In addition to that, she is able to be involved with the Lehman community and which she loves very much. When it comes to promoting art, she looks for pieces that promote children’s literature.
Yini Rodriguez has accomplished a lot in her lifetime and is still working on new projects. Yini Rodriguez emphasizes the importance of education through her writing because it opens up so many doors for a person. She also elaborates on the importance of never giving up and being a visionary because it will lead you to follow your dreams.
Work Cited:
“ Chronicles of Butterflies” blog By Yini Rodriguez http://yinirodriguez.blogspot.com/
“Crónicas de Mariposa” by Yini Rodriguez https://www.amazon.com/Cr%C3%B3nicas-Mariposa-Spanish-Yini-Rodr%C3%ADguez/dp/1329973364
“ I consider myself to be an open book, but I use my past experiences to write my books. With the experiences of losing a sibling, my father in jail, my eating disorder, and other things I have been through, I use my writing as a healing process. Writing helps to acknowledge what happened, heal and leave it in the past instead of holding on to it forever.”
( Quote from interview with Klaudia Rodriguez)
“One of the biggest obstacles I have overcome is my eating disorder. I would just throw up everything I ate. I knew I wanted to get better but I will always end up throwing up in my bathroom. I knew it was going to take time but I looked at myself in the mirror and knew who I wanted to be, so I started from there. It took time but I got better.”
( Quote from interview with Klaudia Rodriguez)
Biography written by Klaudia Rodriguez
