Elena Ayala-Hurtado is a PhD student in sociology at Harvard University. Her research examines how individuals narrate their lives within their social contexts, and particularly how individuals narrate their projections toward the future. She is interested in issues of culture, gender, and young adulthood more generally. Her current research focuses on how young university graduates in Spain make sense of their past, present, and future lives in the context of rapid social change and widespread economic difficulty. Before starting graduate school, Elena earned a B.A. in Sociology and English with Honors from Stanford University and taught high school in Spain through the Fulbright Program.