First-year Lucia Villanueva was born in Madrid, Spain to two Spanish parents: her mother from Vigo (Northern Spain) and her farther from Granada (Southern Spain). When she was two years old, Villanueva moved to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, before returning to Madrid at the age of five. When she was only eight years old, Villanueva moved to Singapore for six years. She describes Singapore, where she spent a third of her life, as “modern, clean, and full of skyscrapers.” Villanueva speaks five different languages: English, Spanish, French, Chinese, and Latin, the first three of which she is fluent in. Moving to Saratoga, California in 2014, the college process was very new to Villanueva, especially with English being her second language. 

Having lived in more than four countries in her life, Colgate finally affords Villanueva the opportunity to stay grounded in one place for a long period of time.