From a young age I have always been curious and eager to learn. I enjoyed discovering new ideas across many subjects, including mathematics, science, and history, but I was consistently drawn to science and math because of their problem-solving nature. I found STEM to be a rewarding challenge. It was exciting and fulfilling to be given a problem and working through it until I reached a solution, sometimes after significant time and effort. That sense of challenge and accomplishment is what initially drew me towards STEM. As I began to consider my academic career, engineering stood out because I would be able to engage in this type of problem-solving on a daily basis. I was also swayed by the tangible impact engineering has on people's lives, often in ways that go unnoticed. In medicine, engineers play a critical role: chemical engineers help develop life-saving drugs and understand how they interact with the human body, while mechanical engineers design medical devices and implants that improve quality of life for patients. Seeing how engineering can directly support healthcare and human well being solidified my decision to pursue this degree. I chose STEM not only because I enjoy a challenge, but because I want my work to positively impact others, even if those who benefit never know my name. As a Latina pursuing a degree in engineering, I have become increasingly aware of the lack of representation in STEM fields. According to the 2023 U.S Latinos in Engineering and Tech Report, Latinos make up about 9.4-9.5% of the engineering workforce in the U.S., and only a small fraction of that group are women. I have witnesses this imbalance firsthand in my classrooms, where I am often one of the only women and one of the few Latinas in the room. At times, it has been intimidating and has caused me to question whether I truly belong in this field. Despite these challenges, my experiences have strengthened my determination. As a person of color in STEM, I hope to be a source of encouragement for other Latinas and Latinos who may feel out of place or uncertain about pursuing similar paths. I understand how isolating these environments can feel, and I want to help change that narrative by showing that success in STEM is possible. As the oldest sibling and cousin in my family, I recognize the responsibility I carry as a role model. I want to demonstrate that higher education is attainable and that STEM can be both meaningful and exciting. Through my education and future career, I hope to contribute not only through my technical work, but also by helping increase representation and confidence among underrepresented communities in STEM. By continuing in this field , I aim to create impact both through engineering solutions and by inspiring others to believe they belong in STEM as well.

As a high schooler I would wonder what it would be like to be in college and if it was anything like what was portrayed in movies. The thought of these new experiences would make me excited and I couldn't wait to graduate high school. When the time finally came to submit applications, apply for financial aid and select where we would attending, I remember feeling so much excitement for what was to come, along with determination to succeed and find a career that I would be excited to work and prepare myself for. I was able to discover what career field I wanted to go into and am actively studying to become the best engineer I can be and create or optimize medical devices that can improve lives. Throughout this exciting journey, I realized that as exciting as college and preparing for ones' future might be, it also requires sacrifice, especially if your financial reality doesn't match your ambitions. As excited as I was for college, I was also fully aware that my family and I didn't have the financial means to cover the full costs of my education. I wouldn't be able to focus solely on my education because I would have to be employed to help pay for my education. As the years go by and I attain more through my education, I have to continue searching for ways to finance my studies, which is why this scholarship will be extremely helpful for me to reach my goals. If I had the opportunity to receive this scholarship I would be able to put more focus on studying for classes and understanding the concepts I will learn in my courses. Currently, I work part-time, which takes away some focus from my studies as I attempt to make more money to fund my educations. While I am proud of my ability to manage working and studying, the stress of financial insecurity can limit the time and energy I invest in research projects, internships, and networking opportunities. With the support of this scholarship, I would be able to reduce my work hours and redirect that time into advancing my skills in areas such as polymer-based medical device design and patient-centered product development. I would be able to direct more time in searching and applying for internships that would help me gain real world experience and prepare me for joining the work force, which is something many employers look for in their candidates. In summary, this scholarship will help me alleviate some of the financial stress that is often associated with higher education and allow me to focus more time on studies, research and internship that would enhance my skills and teach me more about the industry. It would bring me on step closer to achieving my education and career goals.

In a game of UNO, both friendship and family is forgotten, I could argue that the same could be said for a game of Mario Kart. Harsh as it may sound, it is this theme that keeps the game fun and entertaining, at least it does in my family. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is the game I love to play with my family, it is the only game where all of us have fun and enjoy the game, no matter how skilled we may or may not be. It brings together my brothers, who love video games and are generally good at any game they play, and my sister and I, who are not so good at video games and tend to steer away from them but, with Mario Kart none of that matters and we can spend hours playing it. One of my favorite memories of us playing Mario Kart was during Christmas. While we had had the game for quite some time, it wasn't until then when we all started getting into it. It was four of us, two of my brothers, my sister and I were playing and we all started to get very competitive. I was shocked to discover that my sister turned out to be a menace in that game. She was, surprisingly, really good and got first place consistently. It was during this game that I learned that family meant nothing when it came to Mario Kart, when I was in first place both my sister and one of my brothers threw a blue and red shell at me and knocked me out of first place. I was devastated, victory had felt so close just to be knocked down to almost 5th place. While I struggled to keep up with them in the next few rounds, there was one round where I made it to first place at the last second and that had felt exhilarating. Mario Kart is a game where there is much shouting, a lot "NOOOO!", "WHO THREW THAT SHELL AT ME?", "WAS THAT YOU?!" and "OMG, I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT WORKED," but there is also a lot of laughs and jokes. At the end of the day we all leave laughing at dumb little mistakes we made, swapping tips on how to do better next time and suggesting when we can play again. Despite all of us competing against each other, I feel like it helps us stay close and create memories we can talk about in the future.

“Look, I didn’t want to be a half-blood.” The moment I heard those words as I was scrolling through TikTok, I felt chills run down my arms. The Disney TV adaptation of one of my favorite book series was soon to be released and it filled me with a sense of nostalgia and ignited a new wave of readers to get into the series through the many TikTok videos that kept popping up in response to announcement of this new series. It was this series that hooked me into reading at the age of 12, and it was this series that reminded me how much I loved reading years later when I was having a hard time getting back into reading. In my ideal bookshelf, this series is a must because it holds a special place in my heart. One of the reasons I loved this series was because, as a children’s book series, it touched on heavy topics such as death, sacrifice, and betrayal, in ways that as 12 years olds, we were able to comprehend. I found the characters to be compelling and relatable. Overall, it was because of this series that I found a love for reading and why I found myself in the #BookTok community. Once I was on this side of TikTok, I will admit I was skeptical of the recommendations from the #BookTok community, however, due to all the memes and fanart I decided to give one of the highly recommended series a chance and, not to be dramatic but, it changed my brain chemistry forever. That series was the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas. The plot took me on an emotional and captivating journey, I could envision myself in that world from the very beginning. I loved all the characters and their complexities, their flaws, and their strengths, especially the main character. Aelin Ashryver Galathynius is one of my favorite female main characters of any series, she was strong and confident, but also showed vulnerability, she did things that are usually seen as masculine tasks but was also enjoyed very traditionally feminine hobbies. Her character was well developed, and we were able to feel with and for her. The plot was captivating, I found myself gasping as I realized how characters and events from previous books fit the plot. Reading this series I felt joy, intrigue, anger, and sadness, I felt myself wanting to know more as I kept reading. At the end, I realized that Aelin succeeded due to one thing, kindness. It was Aelin’s kindness towards her friends, strangers and even the ones that betrayed her that led to her saving her home. Once I finished this series I had a sense of emptiness, I was happy Aelin and her friends found a happy ending but, now I didn’t know how to move on from these characters that I grew attached to. While this might sound daunting and sad, I think of this as a good thing because I found a series that I loved and captivated me, a series that I would add to any bookshelf I may own. My ideal bookshelf will contain books like those two series, with strong messages and captivating plots that leave me thinking about them day and night, because there isn’t a day that goes by where I don’t think about Throne of Glass, and how “Once upon a time, in a land long since burned to ash, there lived a young princess who loved her kingdom.”

My dream is to be able have a career where I can improve the life of others while maintaining a healthy work-life balance, where I can still be involved in my children's lives. I want to be able to retire my parents and help pay for my siblings college expenses. My dream is to lead a happy, fulfilled life where I can support my family, my parents, my siblings and help other first generation/children of immigrants pay for college by creating a scholarship fund for them and helping them reach their dreams.

The year of 2018 was quite a year. I graduated high school and was getting ready to start life as a college student. While I was excited to start this new phase, it was also the year where my mental health was at its worst. I often shifted from having intrusive thoughts to trying to convince myself that I was fine and had nothing to be upset about. I felt my mental health declining more as the seasons began to change from summer to fall to winter, but it was also during this time that I had decided, for some unknown reason, to go to my university gym and found this to be great, not only for my physical health but for my mental health as well. I began experimenting with different types of exercises and equipment and found that I truly enjoyed weight training. Not only was this getting me into better shape based on my personal goals, but I felt my mental health starting to get better. The amount of days where I would be feeling down or having intrusive thoughts began to become less and less. I began to feel happier with myself and my life. I felt more in control of my life and much more content with myself and my decisions. I began making time to go to the gym and focus on my well being, I also began gaining interest in eating healthy and fueling my body. I found that eating healthy was the most difficult part of having a healthy lifestyle, at least it was for me. I would always crave fast food and snacks, and often found it difficult to incorporate vegetables in my meals or choose healthier options. I began with small steps, for example, reducing my soda consumptions and adding spinach to my omelets. While I wasn’t eating healthy 24/7, I was taking small steps to make the transition easier and it didn’t make eating healthy feel like a burden or an inconvenience. I was able to keep this up throughout my whole undergraduate career, but I recently began a master’s program in California, requiring me to move out of state and live on my own for the first time. I love where I am today, but I have gotten quite busy, finding time to continue working out and maintain a healthy lifestyle has gotten harder. I try to get a workout done in between class and work, but I also have rest days that I programmed throughout the week, which are flexible depending on how my body is feeling. Since, I now live alone I have control over the groceries and what meals I eat, so I try to buy more fruits and vegetables and incorporate them in my meals. I often have very busy weeks, so I decided to begin meal prepping on Sundays so throughout the week I’m not tempted to go buy fast food, instead I have food ready for that day that has vegetables and is ready to go. Healthy lifestyles can be hard to keep up with, especially if you’re always on the move, but I try to maintain this lifestyle to reach my goals and for my mental well being. Working out has become an activity I truly enjoy and because of that, it has made it easier for me to make time to hit the gym and try to eat healthier. As time goes on, I will continue to mange my time to live a healthy lifestyle and it something I can see myself doing for years to come.

The world we live in can be a scary place, while it can be full of wonderful scenery, beautiful people and lovely ways to make memories, there’s no denying that it can also be filled with atrocities that leave many innocent victims forgotten and bad people free to live their lives. Over the years there have been many crimes that have gone unsolved, leaning families without closure wondering what happened and why someone would be capable of doing such horrendous acts. Often times, the family members would leave this world not knowing the truth and the perpetrators free to live their lives as if they did nothing wrong. However, as we evolve our technology and learn new skills, we have developed DNA sequencing that will allow us to not only find long lost family, but to find those responsible for unsolved crimes. Cece Moore, is a women with amazing skills in DNA technology , she is an example of someone that is helping solve unsolved crimes with the use of new DNA sequencing technology. This technology is helping families receive the closure they deserve and showing criminals that they can’t get away with such heinous crimes. Technology like this gives me hope that we can keep making technology that will help other people, it inspires me to make things that would also help others and bring them hope, just like this technology that is solving cases that most have given up on knowing the answers to. It gives me hope that there is justice and that families would be able to have some answers and that the perpetrators will face the consequences of their actions. I hope that with the education I’m receiving as a mechanical engineer I can help create technology and medical products that would also benefit society and improve the health and physical well being of others.

Too loud, too confident, too demanding, too opinionated and many more “too’s” are often used to describe women who want to make themselves heard in predominantly male dominated spaces. It can be easy for women to get shoved to the back, to be overlooked or invalidated, especially if they are one of few women in their workplace. The underrepresentation of females in STEM, especially if they fall under other minority groups, can cause other females to steer away from the field or foster feelings of self-doubt, fear of failure or loneliness. For these reasons, those who have made it into the field should encourage and inspire other females and underrepresented groups to pursue and continue their journey in STEM by taking up space. Taking up space. What does it mean to take up space and how can it be done? This phrase can sound negative, like we’re trying to push others out, but it can bring people in. Taking up space can have different meanings to different individuals, to me, it means making yourself visible. It’s when you voice your opinions or point of view on projects and back them up with logical thinking. It means not backing down when you or your decisions are questioned but explaining your rationale calmly and with confidence. It means being able to accept failure and coming back stronger and better than before. It means working with others, accepting when you’re wrong, but also, knowing when you’re right and demonstrating why you’re right when you are questioned. Taking up space doesn’t have to be threatening, but it can be firm and can create an environment where you’re heard and respected by your peers. Many may say easier said than done, or it takes a certain type of person to be able to accomplish that. It can be hard to push yourself to do those things and say what you want to say, but it’s not impossible and it’ll be less intimidating over time. I have always been a very shy person; I would rarely speak up or give my opinions for fear of being wrong and made fun of. I would often just go with what everyone else would say even if I thought they were wrong or had questions. I realized that I gained nothing by not making myself heard, in fact, I wouldn’t be taken seriously, and others would think that I could be easily told what to do. I decided I needed to change my way of working with others by being more assertive and voicing my thoughts. It was difficult at first because I didn’t want anyone to think negatively of me, but I knew I had to do it. Now, I’m able to take up space by an active member of a team. I’m an intern at a predominantly male biotechnology company, it can be intimidating at times, but I voice my opinions, explain my rational on ideas, discuss and share feedback on projects, experiments and processes. It’s steps like these, that may seem small, but can make a difference in your life and help you take up the space you deserve. When other aspiring women in STEM see you take up space in predominantly male spaces, they will be inspired to follow that path. Although I may stumble at times or feel doubtful, one day I will join the 27% of women in STEM and hopefully inspire other first-generation Latinas to pursue STEM and take up the space they deserve in their fields.

As we grow up and become our own person, we are given advice, lessons and tips from the people around us. They try to teach us how to navigate the ever-changing world we live in and try to make our journey one with as little stress as possible. However, no matter how much they may warn us and give us advice, there are lessons that we can only learn from the school of life. It’s these lessons that help us become better versions of ourselves and guide our future decisions. During my transition to adulthood, or as many tend to say, “the real world”, I had to face many life lessons that I wouldn’t have expected, while some may look at them and think “wow that’s not that bad, it could have been worse”, these experiences have stuck with me and helped me become less tense and be more motivated. Almost immediately after turning 19 and I no longer qualified for the health insurance I was under, I ended up needing emergency dental care. My parents were unable to provide financial support, thus I had to pay for the emergency room visit, two root canal procedures, crowns and some time later, wisdom teeth removal. After all this, I had acquired quite an amount of debt and it derailed my plans. I was stressed out and extremely worried about how I was going to pay it back and keep saving up for college. I did end up paying it back quickly, working as a waitress, especially during the summer helped me make enough to get rid of my debt. While I’m glad that I’m debt free, this experience taught me many things and its one I remember very vividly. One thing I learned from that experience was that there’s no problem that doesn’t have a solution. Every time I come across a problem that seems impossible to solve or work around, I know a solution will present itself, maybe not immediately and it might not be obvious, but I just have to keep my mind open and it will come. I also learned that sometimes, we can’t control everything, things just happen and we have to adapt to the situation and make the best of it. I had always been someone that liked to plan for everything and follow it precisely as I had planned it, when my dental emergency occurred, I was stressed and disappointed that I didn’t think to plan for a medical emergency. There were so many emotions that I was going through and I began thinking of every worst case scenario that could happen in other aspects of my life. The day I finally paid off the last of my debt was the day I finally relaxed and thought, “I did it, I didn’t die, things didn’t go how I thought they would, but it was ok at the end.” It was after this that I was able to accept that I couldn’t control everything and I wouldn’t be able to account for every possible thing that could happen, the only thing I could do is adapt to the situation and be optimistic. Today, I still plan ahead, but if things don’t go as planned, I don’t stress because I’ll learn from the experience. I’ve gained a new outlook on life; I know things happen for a reason and all we can do is learn from them. I’m more motivated to do well in life and help others learn and succeed with their own. I’m happier and hope to continue growing as a person.

As the first born in a Hispanic, immigrant household, I had to mature pretty quickly. Like many children of immigrants, from a very young age we had to contribute to the family’s needs, either by translating documents, speaking on their behalf, and ensuring we did well in school. In my experience, as I helped my parents, I often found myself listening to their conversation, as a child I didn’t think much on their opinions and thoughts on certain subjects like work, religion and mental health. It was later in my life when these memories started to come up again. In the Latino community, depression isn’t talked about and is often dismissed as just being sad, which is why it was so hard for me when I was struggling with my mental health. Halfway through high school was when I started feeling depressed. I often found myself doubting everything, I would feel like I wasn’t good enough or able to do anything. It was during these times that I would recall my parents talking about mental health. They thought that if one had food, a roof over their head, health and a job there was no reason for someone to be depressed. I would remember this at my lowest points and get angry and disappointed with myself for feeling depressed, I would think “Why am I like this? There is no reason for me to be like this. I have everything I need I should be happy.” Throughout the rest of my high school experience, I had to go through this alone because I thought my parents would get angry at me for feeling this way. On my better day, I knew I had to do something, I didn’t want to constantly feel this way for the rest of my life, so I did what I could to surround myself with positivity and leave my house as often as I could. I can say that things are better now and while sometimes it does come back, it’s not as strong and I now view the world from a different angle. My experiences have helped me become a more optimistic person, I learned to not stress myself over things I can't control and that not every negative thing that happens is my fault. I understand that things happen for a reason and that if something doesn't go right, a solution will present itself eventually. I no longer have small goals because I stopped thinking negatively about myself. Now I'm able to set larger goals and aspire for bigger things, if I don't I have a skill that I may need to do it, I can always learn and practice to get where I want to be. When others talk to me I try to make sure that they know they are being heard because it's an awful feeling when you feel like your talking but no one is listening. I remember what I would feel when I wasn't in a good spot and I know that there are other that feel, or are currently feeling the same way and when I interact with others, I want them to feel acknowledged and understand that they aren't alone. I gained a new understanding of the world around me. I now understood that in a lot of Latino/Hispanic household, mental health isn’t taken as serious as other illnesses and as proud as I am of my culture, that’s one thing that needs to be addressed for the sake of future generations. However, I can also understand why it’s not taken seriously. In many places where there aren’t as many resources and putting food on the table is always a challenge, there is no time for mental health problems. Their main focus is surviving and ensuring that their families survive as well. They were always busy and they were always doing something because there was this fear that if they were to stop, there would be no way to provide. I understand now that this may lead them to think that the only reason to be depressed was if you had nothing or you lost everything. I think that understanding why people may not believe in mental health is just as important as understanding it exists. It can help better address the problem and reduce the stigma that is associated with it. My journey has given me a more positive outlook on life and I can feel my optimism growing each day, I feel like I can understand other people’s struggles, empathize with them and gain a better understanding of who they are. There are many who are still struggling and I hope that they are able to find someone or something that can help them navigate through it. Overtime, we will be at a place where mental health can be discussed openly and honestly, but for now we can only try to listen to those around us and be there for our loved ones.

“I want to be able to look back someday and say, “I did make a difference.” Whether it was to open the minds of people to think that a woman can do a good job, or whether it’s the fact that so many kids out there think that they could be like me.” This quote by Antonia Novello resonates deeply with me because it’s a goal that I want to accomplish in my own career and in my life. Antonia Novello is one of the many empowering and inspirational women that I admire. Antonia faced adverse experiences that influenced her goals and ambitions to enter the medical field, it motivated her to keep going and work to accomplish her goals. I admire Antonia Novello’s drive to help others and her determination to keep going in a field where there were not may women, and even less Hispanic women. At times, this fact can make one feel lonely and it can make one question whether they are good enough to be apart of this field. Nonetheless, she preserved and despite coming from a background that many may deem hard to work out of, she was able to enter the medical field, go back to school for public health where she focused on pediatric AIDS, and became the first hispanic women to serve as U.S. Surgeon General. Novello was able to achieve her goals and ambitions, despite facing adverse events that could have discouraged her or sent her down a different path. As I look at women Antonia, I feel like I can relate to this struggles and it encourages me to keep working hard. I think, “She didn’t have a privileged life and could’ve faced discrimination for her cultural background, yet she kept going and did great things, I want to do that too.” It encourages and motivates me to not only achieve MY own goals, but help others achieve theirs. Making a difference is something I aspire to do, especially within the Hispanic community. At times I feel lonely and doubtful in my academic journey because there are not many women in STEM and much less Hispanic and Latinas. I didn’t know who to turn to for advice that would relate to my experiences, I don’t want other students and aspiring engineers to feel that way. Like Antonia, I want to make a difference by having kids look at me and think that if I could do it, they could too. Representation is impactful and when one can’t picture themselves in a certain setting, they could think that they’re not meant to be there. If they were to see someone that looks like them, they’ll be encouraged to keep following their dreams. Throughout my career I plan to be a mentor or advisor for students, especially those from the Latin and Hispanic community. I will give them advice and ensure that they’re referred to adequate contacts and/or institutions that would best fit their needs and goals. I will lead first-generation students, hispanic and Latino students and anyone that feels lost on their way to their goals. Antonia Novello is one of many inspiring women that help me stay motivated as I continue with my education. I hope to follow her footsteps and help my community by mentoring the youth and providing as many resources as possible for them to succeed. As a future engineer in the medical device industry, I hope to introduce STEM programs that will give them the leadership and technical skills to thrive as STEM students and be someone they can reach out to for help.

Being a first-generation student is an amazing accomplishment, not only are they the first to attend college or university, they pave the way for others that relate to them to go follow their own dreams and find their own paths, however, it also comes with its difficulties. As a Latina and a first-generation college student, I had to navigate new territory on my own with limited help from family, who didn’t have the same opportunities that I have now, and friends, who happen to also be figuring out what to do next. As I navigate life as a first-generation college student, I also want to keep helping my family with as much as a I could and give back for all their support and encouragement. I’m the oldest of five and I help take them to and from school or other activities and help them with school. I’ve had a job since 16, I would buy anything they may have needed or wanted, at times, while also helping with other expenses. I was able to figure out how to balance school work and my part time jobs. I eventually decided to major in biomechanics and am about to graduate this May with a bachelors degree. I plan to stay employed and go to graduate school to get a master’s in mechanical engineering. I believe this path will help me acquire the skills and experience to join the medical devices and prosthetics industry to make a difference in people’s lives. In the medical device and prosthetic industry, there’s plenty of advancements that have happened. Technology is helping to make better devices that can serve a greater magnitude of the population, I want to help in the process. I want to create and optimize medical devices, specifically lower limb devices to help people walk or get back to doing activities they love. Most importantly, I want to lower the cost of such devices to make them accessible. Often times, there are people who are looking for devices and while they exist, they end up being very expensive and opt to not purchase them for fear of not being able to afford anything else. I want to give people better access to these devices without fearing the economic burden that may follow. Not only will a career in STEM help me make a difference in the lives of those that need medical devices, but it will help put me in a place where I have access to resources that could help other incoming women, Latinos and first-generation students that want a career in STEM. Throughout my college experience, there were very few people that look like me in my courses and it limited the connections I could make because I wondered if my peers would understand me and my struggles, when I would look for mentors or advisors, even outside my university, there were very few people that would relate to me, occasionally, it would make me doubt if this was the correct path for me. I want to change that and encourage more Latinos and women to enter STEM. I want to be the mentor and advisor that can understand their positions and their difficulties. I want them to think “If this person who is like me can accomplish this or that, then I can too, I can also make a difference.” This is part of my motivation to succeed in STEM and I will work hard to accomplish my goals and ambitions.

Education has always been an important part of my life. My parents, from an early age, have encouraged me to pursue higher education and acquire as much knowledge as possible. As far back as I remember, I have also had an interest in learning, I enjoyed school and learning about new ideas and concepts. This has helped me stay motivated throughout the years as I finish up my bachelors degree. I also find education extremely valuable and believe it can open doors, not only in the work force, but with personal activities as well. The world is vast and there are many things that are left to discover. Through my education I able to see the world as a place to share knowledge. There are many people around the globe with a sense of curiosity that want to learn and initiate the process to figure something out. We can then learn from one another to keep advancing technology, medicine and cultures. The different views and ideas will enhance our knowledge and help us discover new things or let us have a better understanding of concepts we may already know to apply it to something else or look at it from a different perspective. Learning can be a team effort, while one may think that learning about the world is an individual task, it’s important to know that the efforts of many around the world are what are driving this advancement of knowledge today and it keeps helping us educate ourselves. My education has shown me that people don’t always look at problems the same and by extension they don’t look at life the same either. I found that being able to remove your points of view from a situation is important to understand other people or ideas. If one is adamant in seeing something form one point of view or wants to do something in a specific way, they’ll fail to learn something that was not so obvious. Sometimes learning opportunities are hidden in plane site, one may think there is only one way to so something, but if they would’ve listened to someone with a different point of view then they might have found that there was a better or easier way to do the same task. Through education, I’ve learned to keep myself open to new ideas and embrace difference because in the end, they help you grow. I know that I shouldn’t think that my way or my thoughts are the best option in a given circumstance, but listens to what others have to say, even if I don’t personally think it would make sense. Education serves to makes us more knowledgeable individuals, but it doesn’t only apply to academics. It helps us understand one another by learning about each other’s cultures, methods in science or methods in learning. It inspires us to keep learning and help one another in the process. My education has made me view the world as a place were people with differences can come together and share similar experiences, knowledge and ideas. I have become a more open-minded person because of it and I hope I have the opportunity to keep educating myself on various topics.

“Education is a powerful tool.” My parents would always remind me how powerful getting an education can be and the opportunities it can bring, this shaped my perspective on school and my desire to do well in school. The fact that I have always enjoyed learning also helped me perform well academically. However, when the question of what my plans were after high school and what I wanted my career would be, I was lost. As the oldest of five, a first-generation student in a Hispanic household, I did not know how to answer either questions. I did not know what I wanted as a career path and I did not know how I would proceed after high school. Thankfully, my high school advisors were able to help me with college applications and scholarships. I enrolled at my local university to save money while I got my general education done and figured out what I wanted my area of study to be. Eventually, I decided to major in Biomechanics because I enjoyed math and science and I wanted to do something that would use that and help others in the medical field. It has not been easy to navigate college life as a first-generation student, there is a lot I still do not know, and as a Latina, there were not a lot of peers that I could relate to in my courses. Nonetheless, this year I am senior set to graduate in May with a bachelor’s degree in biomechanics and plan to get my master’s degree this fall in mechanical engineering with a concentration in biomechanics to later go on and work in the medical device industry. Biomechanics, which is the study of movement mechanics in relation to living organisms, is still a fairly new discipline. I came across biomechanics during my second semester in college as I was deciding on what to major in. In the introductory class, the professor explained what the field was about and how it translated to the real world. I was intrigued from the start because there was a lot of involvement with medical care and human anatomy. At the time I wanted to do something in the medical field to help others but I knew that becoming a doctor or nurse was not in my interest. One of the sections covered was the role of biomechanics in prosthetic devices, it was were that I decided that this was what I wanted to do. I wanted to learn to make these prosthetics and figure out how to help those that are less abled. It has an engineering aspect that intrigued me and it also poked at my creative side with designing and optimization. Biomechanics can also help in realms of cardiovascular health, neuroscience and physical therapy. I like this idea, that it could branch out to different aspects of human health, but what I was most interested in was the engineering and development. I have family that have been afflicted by neuromuscular diseases that have impeded their abilities to fully sustain themselves and I want to develop assistive devices that could help them regain their mobility. Thus, biomechanics and mechanical engineering will help me gain the skills and experience to help develop and optimize assistive devices to help those that feel limited in their abilities to freely move around. The difference I want to make in my career are both within industry and outside. I aim to develop medical devices that are user, efficient most importantly, economically accessible. I am sure there are plenty of product out there that could help people regain their mobility, however, often times these products are quite expensive and people do not have the means to access them. I want to find ways to create safe and useful medical devices more accessible prices to allow more people to access them no matter what their economic status looks like. Outside of industry and in STEM mostly, Latinos are small portion in the workforce and Latinas represent a much lower portion, which is also translated in the classrooms. There were many times that I felt discouraged in my career choice because there were not many people who looked like me in my classrooms, I felt like no one would understand my struggles and it was hard to motivate myself when representation was limited. Thus, I want to be able to help other Latinas and Latinos get into STEM and not feel lonely or out of place while trying to get their education. Representation encourages others, there is a moment when you think “If that person who is similar to me could accomplish this or that, then I can too.” I want to mentor, first-generation student and Latinos specifically, to encourage my community to network, push themselves to achieve their goals and bring up the numbers of Latinos in STEM related careers. At the end of the day, getting where I am at today was not easy, there was a lot of doubt and worry about the next course of action and whether I was going to be able to finance my education. Nonetheless, I am about to get my bachelors degree and will now move on to get my masters. I aim to gather the skills and experience to create and optimize medical devices and prosthetics that will help people regain their mobility and lower the cost of such devices. I also aim to inspire others like me to keep working hard and help them in any way to propelled them towards their goals. I look forward to my next chapter in my journey and I cannot wait to see what comes next