aurora "rori" valentina castillo is the only child of esteban and marisol castillo (a dentist and a nurse, respectively). born in seabrook, texas, rori was a gift that had been four years in the making due to the couple's difficulty conceiving. as a child, rori was mostly catered to in the sense that she always had what she needed but still had instilled in her manners and a basic sense of respect. being the "miracle child" had its drawbacks though; her parents often appeared overprotective and sought to keep her on a steady path to success with no time for hiccups. she wasn't a hermit living in seclusion by any means but her parents did keep an eye on who she was spending her time with and kept a strict curfew schedule. rori typically managed to sneak out of her window and over to her best friend's house at least twice a week just to have late night chats and watch dumb movies. she certainly wasn't oblivious to their motives and knew that they were simply doing what they believed to be in her best interest. however, once she graduated high school, she no longer wanted to be the girl that was constantly being viewed under a magnifying glass. when her cousin suggested that rori join her in ann arbor, she originally seesawed on packing up and leaving the rest of her family so far behind. however, when she was offered an athletic scholarship at the university of michigan, she took it as a sign of what she was meant to do. rori accepted her offer at umich and made the move within weeks of her high school graduation. in ann arbor for just over a year now, she's still learning about all of the things the city has to offer in between balancing classes and her job.

rori began playing soccer through the bay area youth soccer association when she was five and immediately fell in love. she has also tried her hand at softball and dedicated nine years to gymnastics and tumbling. through it all, soccer is the one sport she has never even considered walking away from. without fail, she made the team every year throughout her junior high and high school careers. her unwavering dedication was rewarded with an athletic scholarship from UMICH that allowed her to venture out on her own and kept her busy until her injury.

late in the 2014 soccer season, rori ended up in a brutal pileup on the field that left her having to be carried onto the sidelines. after a thorough - and excruciating, if you ask her - examination and subsequent trip to the emergency room, it was determined that she had a severely torn anterior cruciate ligament which required arthroscopic surgery and a short stint in physical therapy. while her knee is now fairly stable, the injury essentially ended her soccer career. the phone call to her parents, along with the discussion with her coach, still stands out as one the saddest moments of her life. luckily, her parents understood that she wanted to continue the new life that she had started in the northeast and, after many heartfelt conversations, agreed to go back to texas without her and pick up the bill for her tuition once her scholarship was moot.

moving to michigan originally left rori with a mild case of culture shock. it wasn't that she didn't like her new home - she loved it immediately - it was just... different. as someone who had spent her entire life in texas, the first winter in ann arbor offered her a harsh reality. besides the need for no more than a light jacket during the fall season, she will forever miss the abundance of fried foods that were readily available back home.

was raised catholic and grew up in a very religious household - mass every sunday, celebrating the holy days, and prayers before every meal. in all actuality, rori isn't very religious at all and only complied with her parents rules out of respect. she doesn't judge anyone that does have strong ties to religion, after all, it's their choice and they have a right to say what they do or don't believe in. over the years, she just realized that she disagreed with more policies than she agreed with and calling herself a catholic just because she showed her face before a priest didn't really make sense.

rori is currently well on her way to becoming a second generation nurse. growing up, she frequently hung onto her mother's every word as marisol recounted both funny and horrifying stories from her shifts. always particularly gifted in her knowledge and understanding of the biological sciences, it has been assumed since her junior high days that she would follow in her mother's footsteps. luckily, she truly does have a passion for the occupation and has just entered her sophomore year in the bsn program at UMICH.

there are only two things that rori truly hates: judgmental people and brussel sprouts, the later making her gag at any mention of them. she is a firm believer in people doing whatever makes them happy because life is too short for anyone to be miserable and, in her eyes, the judgmental zealots of the world do nothing but make others miserable and bring about self-loathing. after spending far too long worried about what others thought of her every move, she has adopted what she refers to as a "zero fucks given" policy - if you aren't important to her, she doesn't care what you you think.

rori has never allowed her small stature to hold her back. at 5'2", she's a walking dynamo, filled to the brim with sass, and has no problem standing up to someone a full head and shoulders taller than her. she does have a bit of a quick temper though she is - mostly - able to reign it in and redirect her anger into a snappy comeback rather than fully unleashing her wrath. holding grudges comes easy for her and passive-aggressive statements make regular appearances. one very large downside to this is that she has been known to lash out on some poor unsuspecting soul in passing by and then spends copious amounts of time feeling guilty about treating them that way when they clearly did nothing to deserve it.

suffering from only child syndrome, rori can, at times, appear as mildly self-centered and hates being passed over. she does like to be recognized for her accomplishments though she tends to brush them off in faux-bashfullness so that she doesn't appear as an attention seeker. she isn't "me, me, me" all the time, but she certainly does have moments where the urge to call attention to herself is strong.

rori isn't out of control by any means, but she does like to enjoy herself. she lives by the mantra "work hard, play harder" and her fake id gets a pretty thorough workout on the weekends. despite the catholic guilt impressed upon her during her adolescence, rori has no issue with casual hookups, though she does not actively seek them. if it happens, it happens, and that's the end of that.

while rori wants a dog of her own more than anything, her busy schedule means that a fluffy little treasure of her own just isn't in the cards right now. in order to appease her dog-envy, she currently volunteers for a local dog rescue by helping out at adoption events and cuddling them all into submission.