My vision for the future was clear from early on in my life. While I was growing up in Buenos Aires, Argentina, my mom encouraged me to write letters to big gaming companies, asking what books I should read, what programming languages they used, and how I could become an employee one day.

Today, as General Manager of Microsoft Global University Recruiting, I feel that my life has come full circle.  My childhood dream came true when I got an opportunity to work at Microsoft with the Xbox team.

I’m proud to work in a company that allows people to follow their dreams. After all, that’s what led me to accept a new challenge and transition from engineering to Human Resources. I realized that my passion is actually connecting with people and understanding different cultures.

Today, I lead the group that opens the doors for others to pursue their dreams – not only by helping students around the world become a part of Microsoft, but also by supporting the Latino community within the company and helping create an environment in which people truly connect through their passions.

Everyday, I accomplish this through music, a passion that I proudly inherited from my father. At Microsoft, I have the opportunity to incorporate that passion into the workplace, gracing the halls with tunes coming from my Creole guitar. Once, an employee approached me while I was playing and shared that my music reminded her of her abuelita back in Mexico, who loved to play guitar. Several weeks later, she arrived at my office with her grandmother, and a shared passion and culture led us to a unique guitar session. That moment created an indescribable sense of belonging and community. When you bring your full self to work, magic happens.

I want to pay it forward. I continue to write letters, but now I send them to the parents of some Latino employees, acknowledging their contributions, which I know, oftentimes, included much sacrifice for the success of their kid.

My advice is to always be yourself. By each of us bringing our full identities and differences to work, we are going to realize that we are all differently the same.