Early careerĪfter college, Ocasio-Cortez moved back to the Bronx and took a job as a bartender and waitress to help her mother-a house cleaner and school bus driver-fight foreclosure of their home.

I was the one that had to help that person navigate that system.' Ocasio-Cortez graduated cum laude from Boston University in 2011 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in both international relations and economics. She recalled, 'I was the only Spanish speaker, and as a result, as basically a kid – a 19-, 20-year-old kid – whenever a frantic call would come into the office because someone is looking for their husband because they have been snatched off the street by ICE, I was the one that had to pick up that phone.

senator Ted Kennedy in his section on foreign affairs and immigration issues. During college, Ocasio-Cortez served as an intern for U.S. She has said that the experience helped her learn 'first-hand how attorneys appointed by the court to administer an estate can enrich themselves at the expense of the families struggling to make sense of the bureaucracy'. Her father died of lung cancer in 2008 during her second year, and Ocasio-Cortez became involved in a lengthy probate battle to settle his estate. Īfter graduating from high school, Ocasio-Cortez enrolled at Boston University. She later became the LDZ Secretary of State while she attended Boston University. In high school, she took part in the National Hispanic Institute's Lorenzo de Zavala (LDZ) Youth Legislative Session. In a show of appreciation for her efforts, the MIT Lincoln Laboratory named a small asteroid after her: 23238 Ocasio-Cortez. She came in second in the microbiology category of the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in 2007 with a research project on the effect of antioxidants on the lifespan of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. In high school and college, Ocasio-Cortez went by the name of 'Sandy Ocasio'. Ocasio-Cortez attended Yorktown High School, graduating in 2007. Ocasio-Cortez lived with her family in an apartment in the Bronx neighborhood of Parkchester until she was five, when the family moved to a house in suburban Yorktown Heights. Her father was born in the Bronx to a Puerto Rican family and became an architect her mother was born in Puerto Rico.

Ocasio-Cortez was born in the New York City borough of the Bronx on October 13, 1989, the daughter of Sergio Ocasio-Roman and Blanca Ocasio-Cortez ( née Cortez). Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). She advocates a progressive platform that includes support for workplace democracy, Medicare for All, tuition-free public college, a federal jobs guarantee, a Green New Deal, and abolishing the U.S. She was previously an activist and worked as a waitress and bartender before running for Congress in 2018.Īlongside Rashida Tlaib, Ocasio-Cortez was the first female member of the Democratic Socialists of America elected to serve in Congress. Ocasio-Cortez attended Boston University, where she double-majored in international relations and economics, graduating cum laude. She has been noted for her substantial social media presence relative to her fellow members of Congress. Taking office at age 29, Ocasio-Cortez is the youngest woman ever to serve in the United States Congress. She easily won the November general election, defeating Republican Anthony Pappas. She defeated Democratic Caucus Chair Joe Crowley, a 10-term incumbent, in what was widely seen as the biggest upset victory in the 2018 midterm election primaries. On June 26, 2018, Ocasio-Cortez drew national recognition when she won the Democratic Party's primary election for New York's 14th congressional district. The district includes the eastern part of the Bronx, portions of north-central Queens, and Rikers Island in New York City. representative for New York's 14th congressional district since 2019, as a member of the Democratic Party. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ( / oʊ ˌ k ɑː s i oʊ k ɔːr ˈ t ɛ z/ ( listen) Spanish: born October 13, 1989), also known by her initials AOC, is an American politician and activist.

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