Miriam entered into foster care as a toddler with her nine siblings. During her time in care, she bounced around many placements, however, despite this, she worked incredibly hard and pursued her dreams of graduating college. Miriam attended and graduated from UC Berkeley, saying, "I've overcome many things in my life - I believe that obtaining my bachelors degree along with growing up around substance abuse was challenging". However, these hardships were met with perhaps the most difficult of all, her current battle against kidney disease and kidney failure. Despite it all, Miriam remains positive. During her free time, she volunteers at a foster youth nonprofit, reads novels, watches movies, and writes poetry.