About me: (My life before my diagnosis)

Well, my name is Elizandra Torres, but most of my friends call me Ellie. Elizandra is just too long, and people always pronounced it wrong, and I eventually got fed up with it and told people to call me “Ellie”.

My life consists of my family and God. I have two wonderful parents, Justo and Genoveva Torres. My parents are my heroes and I thank God everyday for putting them in my life. I have one older brother and sister, Justo Jr. and Iris Adriana. My brother travels alot so I don't really see him much. But he's a great guy and I know God has amazing plans for him. My sister Iris and I are very close. My sister is happily married with Omar Garcia and has a 2 month old, Demetrio Omar Garcia. Iris is a wonderful sister that I love with all my heart. She is like my twin. We think alike and share many things in common. My little nephew Demetrio is a doll. He is such a good baby and is adorable. God has blessed my sister with this child. God is my savior and I love him. He has blessed me with a beautiful family who loves me unconditionally.

I graduated from a small school in Blue Ridge, Texas (North Texas) back in 2008 as Valedictorian. My graduating class consisted of like 60 students, so you can only imagine…Very small school, rumors, drama, etc…Senior year I decided to apply to Texas Tech University and was accepted. I remember visiting the Texas Tech campus on Arbor Day and I absolutely loved it! I knew that’s where I belonged, and I told my parents, “Tech” is where I want to be. I started Texas Tech in the Fall of 2008 and lived in the dorms with my best friend Sierra Gee. Dorm life was fun and annoying at the same time! Wouldn’t ever want to go back! Freshman year was easier than I expected. Professors and classes weren’t really as hard as I had planned on them being. I didn’t really party much my freshman or sophomore year because I was just too scared to turn into some “crazy college girl”!

My freshman year, I met a wonderful man “Derek Sooby”. Derek and I met outside Weymouth Resident Halls while I was walking with one of his Marine Military Academy friends. Derek joined all of us to a friend’s dorm. We exchanged numbers that day, and chatted on the phone that night for like 4 hours. We went on several dates and then called it “official”. Derek and I started dating on October 23rd, 2008, which is also his birthday, and we have been dating since then! Derek is an amazing boyfriend who enjoys sharing his love with me daily. Very fun and cuddly guy! We love going on food adventures. We love THAI FOOD and SUSHI! Favorite places to dine in Lubbock are: “Thai Pepper, Home Café, and Hayashi Habachi.”

Anywho, back to me, lol, I am now a senior Accounting Major at Texas Tech University. I’m not going into why I chose Accounting, so all I’ll say is that I love numbers. I’m considered a nerd by a lot of people. I’ll admit, I love school and really care about my grades. My favorite part of school is getting to interact with my professors. I don’t like to “kiss butt” as other students would say, I just like to build relationships with great people. I’m in Alpha Kappa Psi, a Co-ed Business Fraternity, and I’m also a member of the Student Business Council. I also had a job as Accounts Receivable at a local plastic pipe company “O’Tool” where I would work like 15 hours a week. I just recently got accepted into the Texas Tech 150-M.S.A. program and will be starting graduate school in Spring 2012, not Fall 2011, because of my recent diagnosis, which I’ll go over next.