Intellectual Autobiography

Hello! 👋🏻

My name is Wilfredo Flores, but you can also call me Wil if that’s too hard (just please don’t call me Alfredo or some other name 🙂). I'm a queer, Mexican American, foster care alum who grew up on the Southside of San Antonio, TX+. My last name means "flowers" in Spanish, and I worked as a florist for three years. 

My route to higher education was tenuous and full of luck. Below is a handy timeline of how I got to where I am today!

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2007 – 2010

After I graduated from high school, I attended community college across locations in San Antonio, Texas: Palo Alto College right down the street from me in the Southside, San Antonio College, and Northeast Lakeview College. I did this while changing majors from Biology to Psychology for a few years and then dropping out once my Pell Grant ran out. 

2012 – 2014

After a few years, I went back to undergrad at the University of Texas at San Antonio and received a degree in English with a concentration in professional writing after watching the movie The Devil Wears Prada (yes, I am that gay). During this time, I worked part time in the writing center, where I ended up working up until 2022, and from there, I was guided by a fellow tutor toward taking a PhD-level class during my senior year. After doing a ton of paperwork, I was able to take a 5,000-level class with Dr. Sue Hum, who together with Dr. Crystal Colombini, helped steer me to graduate school, which I didn't even know was a thing at the time.

2014 – 2017

After I graduated, I was accepted into the masters program in technical communication at Texas Tech University. Here, my burgeoning interests in rhetorical theory, health and medical communication, and critical theory came about through my coursework. During this time, I also worked full time as a copyeditor for a local newspaper, commuting to Texas Tech about two times a week for my classes (a four-hour roundtrip each time). I took classes with Drs. Kelli Cargile Cook, Sean Zdenek, Sam Dragga, Greg Wilson, and Michael Faris. After helping me with an independent study related to queer theory, Michael ended up helping me with figuring out if a PhD was the right thing for me, as well as which programs I might apply to. After a hectic final semester, I ended up graduating with my MA in technical communication and a specialization in rhetoric, as well as a certificate in teaching technical writing. From there, I ended up pursuing a PhD, heading up to the Mitten (otherwise known as Michigan) for a new adventure. 

2017 – 2022

I entered into the PhD program in the Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures in at Michigan State University in the fall semester of 2017, and I immediately got lucky in meeting some of the best mentors and friends I could ever have asked for. Throughout my coursework, I took classes on composition pedagogy, rhetorical history and theory, Indigenous methodologies, multimodal rhetorics, cultural rhetorics, and critical theory from Drs. Kristin Arola, Malea Powell, Trixie Smith, John Monberg, Jacqueline Rhodes, and Elizabeth LaPenseé. During my five years in my PhD program, I also spent most of my energy working with and in communities in Lansing, MI, doing community organizing in and around queer and trans health issues, Mexican and Mexican American cultural events, and Indigenous sovereignty. I received my PhD while the COVID-19 pandemic lightened in the United States (at least up until then) along with a certificate in Indigenous Studies, and from there, I sought a tenure-track position, which I got!

2022 – Present

Now, I'm assistant professor of writing, rhetoric, and digital studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in the Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and Digital Studies. I'm a tenure-track professor working with mostly first-generation students who are very much like myself when I was an undgraduate; in many ways, this feels like my dream job!

Beyond the academic grind, I’m a huge gamer, and you can occasionally find me streaming over on Twitch (I'm usually playing single-player, narrative-driven games). I recently beat the Dark Souls trilogy and made my way through other FromSoftware games; I just cleared the “Shadow of the Erdtree” DLC for Elden Ring (the final boss took me about three days!), and I’m currently lost in a Baldur’s Gate 3 run now that I've reached Act III. I love talking about video games and science fiction, so if you ever want to chat me up, feel free to do so!