I used to put school over my mental health because I thought that outweighed my well-being. Growing up in a Hispanic household, it is frowned upon to have mental issues or even anxiety. It was hard expressing my feelings growing up, and now as an adult, I realize how important it is. I am very anxious sometimes, and I cannot bottle up my feelings. I have to talk about them in order to improve my mental health. It is a healthy way for me to express myself. For the longest time, I suffered with anxiety and panic attacks because I would get overwhelmed with the rigor of college and all the pressure my mom put on me to succeed. I was also stressed about my financial issues in school, and I fell into depression. This caused my grades to slip and my anxiety to get worse. It is important that we as people have support and are able to keep going and push through anxiety because no one is alone in navigating their mental health. It was then I realized school is not everything, and mental health should come first. We should prioritize mental health in order to be content and lead successful lives. I am able to manage my mental health by taking breaks from school to focus on my personal goals. I focus on hobbies I like, such as working on my car. I also read self-development books, which help me have a more positive mindset. I am religious, and my faith has kept me grounded when I read my Bible. I also indulge in activities such as basketball, exercise, and going for walks. I try to do fun things or hang out with a friend to navigate my mental health. Being a part of the Formula SAE club, Red Raider Racing, has also played a significant role in maintaining my mental wellness. As a mechanical engineering student at Texas Tech University, this hands-on experience is invaluable. We build about 90 percent of our vehicle from the ground up, welding and manufacturing all our parts. This year, we placed in the top 50 car designs and secured 1st place in the cost event at an international competition. Navigating the ups and downs of the manufacturing process has taught me the importance of communication and teamwork. When one subsystem needed help, all hands were on deck. We built real connections with one another, which aided our work performance. The environment in the shop was friendly and motivating, and it was comforting to be surrounded by other people who know the struggles of engineering. This support network helped me a lot when it came to studying, as some of our officers had taken the classes I had and were able to help me. The experience with Red Raider Racing has been motivating and has solidified my desire to go into the automotive field. It has shown me the value of a supportive team and the importance of mental wellness in achieving success. By prioritizing my mental health, I am able to perform better academically and enjoy my college experience more fully.

Coming from both a single-parent and low-income household has taught me a multitude of values that I hold today. This experience has taught me resilience, and that failure is not an option. I have also learned that there is more than one way to achieve your goals. I have a profound sense of independence which has helped me persevere in my academia. My mother had made countless sacrifices to better our future and it has taught me the importance of hard work and self-reliance. I have been taught strength through this experience and I have been inspired because my mom has shown me that I can accomplish anything I put my mind to. These lessons have been invaluable as I navigate my journey in Mechanical Engineering. Being the first in my family to move away from home for college has come with its own set of challenges, from understanding the complexities of higher education to managing the financial burden. However, my upbringing has equipped me with the tenacity to overcome these obstacles. My life experiences have also shaped my desire to make a positive impact in my community and the world. As a Hispanic woman in Mechanical Engineering, I am passionate about inspiring others, particularly women and minorities, to pursue careers in STEM, I actively mentor young students, sharing my journey and the lessons I've learned to encourage them to believe in their potential. I am also dedicated to advancing the automotive engineering world to develop safer and reliable vehicles. By contributing to such advancements I aim to make a tangible difference in people's lives. My upbringing in a single-parent, low-income household fueled my drive and passion to achieve my goals.

Growing up in a single-mother household has profoundly shaped my outlook on life, instilling in me a strong sense of independence and resilience. My mother, raising three children on her own for over 18 years, has been a constant source of strength and inspiration. Her determination and unwavering support have taught me invaluable lessons about self-reliance, perseverance, and the importance of believing in oneself. From a young age, my mother emphasized the importance of independence. She always encouraged me to tackle challenges head-on and to never feel that I needed to rely on a man or partner to achieve my goals. This mindset has been instrumental in shaping my self-confidence and my approach to life's obstacles. I have learned that I am capable of handling difficult situations on my own and that my strength comes from within. One of the most significant lessons my mother taught me is that our strength and worth are self-defined. No one else has the power to dictate who we are or what we can achieve. This belief has empowered me to pursue my dreams without hesitation and to face challenges with determination. It has given me the confidence to navigate the complexities of higher education, particularly as the first person in my family to move away from home to attend college. Watching my mother juggle multiple responsibilities while providing for our family has shown me the true meaning of resilience. Despite the numerous challenges she faced, she never gave up. Her ability to persevere through tough times and her unwavering commitment to our family's well-being has been a constant source of motivation for me. I have learned that resilience is not just about enduring hardships, but also about maintaining a positive outlook and finding solutions to problems. This experience has also reinforced my belief in my capabilities. Seeing my mother manage our household single-handedly has made me realize that I too can overcome any obstacle if I put my mind to it. Whether it's handling the financial burden of college, balancing academic responsibilities with family obligations, or striving to excel in a demanding field like mechanical engineering, I know that I have the strength and determination to succeed. Growing up in a single-mother household has not only shaped my personal beliefs but has also influenced the experiences I have had in life. It has taught me the importance of hard work and determination. I have seen firsthand the sacrifices my mother made to ensure we had a better future, and this has inspired me to work diligently towards my own goals, Her example has shown me that success is attainable through hard work and determination, regardless of circumstances. This experience has instilled in me a deep sense of empathy and a desire to help others. I have learned the struggles that come with growing up in a single-parent household, and I am committed to supporting my mother and giving back to her in any way I can. I want to ensure that her sacrifices were not in vain and that she can take pride in the person I have become. I am motivated to use my education and skills to make a positive impact in my community and support others who may face similar challenges. As a Hispanic woman in Mechanical Engineering, I am particularly passionate about inspiring others to pursue this degree and to work toward making positive change in the automotive engineering field. The field of mechanical engineering is underrepresented by women and minorities, and I hope to be a role model for other young women.

Throughout my journey as a Hispanic woman pursuing a degree in Mechanical Engineering, I have faced numerous challenges that have tested my resolve, resilience, and determination. Among these, my greatest achievement achievement to date is the successful navigation and completion of my education while managing significant personal and financial obstacles. As the first person in my family to leave home for college, I had to learn how to navigate the complexities of higher education on my own. This included understanding the application process, securing financial aid, and managing the day-to-day responsibilities of living away from home. I had to learn how to navigate tough times without my support system being my family near me. These were not small tasks; each step was a learning curve that required me to adapt quickly and efficiently. One of the most significant challenges I faced was the financial burden of college. With my mother being the sole income earner in our household, paying for college was a daunting task. To alleviate this burden, I applied for scholarships and decided to attend community college after my first semester at the university. This experience taught me the value of hard work, perseverance, and the importance of strategic planning. In addition to financial challenges, I also had to manage family responsibilities. There were times when I had to return home to support my family, particularly my mother. Balancing these responsibilities with my academic commitments was incredibly challenging, but it also reinforced my time management skills and my ability to prioritize effectively. These experiences have taught me several invaluable lessons about myself. First and foremost, I have learned that I am resilient. I attended Texas Tech in the Fall of 2021 and then I went home spring semester because of financial burdens. I attended community college that semester I felt defeated at first but I used that to my advantage to motivate me to attend Texas Tech again. This experience gave me the ability to bounce back from setbacks and continue moving forward which has been crucial in my journey whether it was figuring out how to pay for college or balancing family responsibilities with my studies, I consistently found ways to overcome the obstacles in my path. Secondly, I have learned the importance of self-reliance. Being the first in my family to pursue higher education away from home meant I had to figure a lot of things out on my own. This independence has made me more resourceful and confident in my ability to tackle future challenges As a Hispanic woman, I have come to appreciate the significance of representation in the fields where minorities and women are underrepresented. My journey has reinforced the importance of diversity in STEM and has fueled my desire to pave the way for others like me. These experiences have underscored the value of education and the lengths to which I am willing to go to achieve my goals. My determination to succeed in mechanical engineering has been my driving force, motivating me to push through difficult times and stay focused on my objectives. Looking ahead, my primary goal is to leverage my mechanical engineering degree to make a meaningful impact in the field of automotive engineering. Given that we spend about a third of our lives in transportation, I am passionate about developing safe and more reliable vehicles. One area that particularly excites me is the integration of advanced technologies into automotive design to enhance safety. For instance, working on projects similar to those undertaken by organizations like TxDOT, such as the development of night vision windshields, is a goal I aspire to achieve, Night vision windshields have the potential to significantly improve driver visibility and safety during nighttime driving, reducing the risk of accidents and saving lives. In addition to my professional aspirations, I also hope to serve as a role model for other students who may be facing similar challenges. By sharing my experiences and the lessons I have learned, I am to inspire others, particularly Hispanic women and other minorities, to preserve and pursue their dreams, regardless of the obstacles they may encounter. I am committed to lifelong learning, The field of automotive engineering is constantly evolving, and staying updated with the latest advancements is crucial. I am confident in my ability to achieve my future goals and contribute positively to society.

As a Hispanic woman in the male-dominated fields of engineering and automotive technology, my journey has been one of resilience, determination, and passion. I grew up in a single-income household in Texas, I am the oldest of three in my family and I am the first to move away from home for college. My path to pursuing my degree in Mechanical Engineering at Texas Tech University has not been easy, each obstacle has only strengthened my determination to pursue this degree to make a significant impact in the world of transportation safety. My passion for STEM began during a time when I was working as an auto-collision technician. I realized working in the industry that every collision we worked on told a story, behind each damaged vehicle are real people whose lives have been altered. Whether they were altered physically or financially these people were struggling. Witnessing the injuries and trauma that result from these collisions sparked a desire in me to make our transportation systems safer.Texas has one of the highest rates of collision fatalities in the country. This emphasizes the need for advancements in automotive safety. I aspire to be at the forefront of these advancements by designing and developing safer, more reliable vehicle technology. I learned at a young age working within the automotive industry that I would often have to prove my capabilities to others to take my work as a technician seriously. This has carried on throughout my education within the male-dominated world of engineering. I have had professors who have talked down to me and were in disbelief that I could pursue this major. There were moments when I needed to work harder than my male counterparts for my capabilities to be taken seriously. This is especially prominent within the student organization I am involved in. I am a part of a Formula 1 SAE organization and the men in the organization fail to include the women in design projects or any of the manufacturing work they do. I have had to prove myself to this organization by pushing those boundaries and taking the initiative to help our organization I was able to get us new sponsorships.I also was able to teach some of the members how to apply body filler because of my automotive experience. I have learned that being a woman in engineering means I can take the initiative to break the confines of stereotypes. Despite my dedication to the field and hard work, my financial circumstances have posed a significant challenge. Coming from a single-income household I had to navigate the complexities of financing my education without the support of private loans due to lack of credit. Finding a job that fits around my demanding academic schedule has been difficult on top of the stress of funding my education. I heavily rely on scholarships and financial aid to pursue my degree. This scholarship is not just financial support it will allow me to continue my pursuit of engineering and achieve my goals. It will alleviate the financial burden that weighs heavily on my shoulders, allowing me to focus on my studies. With this support, I can fully dedicate myself to research endeavors that will contribute to the advancements in automotive engineering to make transportation safer. Being the first in my family to move away for college has come with its own set of challenges. Not only am I striving for my success I am also setting an example for my younger siblings. I want to show them that dedication, and perseverance, it is possible to achieve your dreams and overcome adversity.

I have always believed in god ever since I was a kid. I remember going to all the fun Christian programs in school. We had a good news club at my elementary school and I remember all the cool stories about Moses, Noah's ark, Daniel in the lion's den, and so many others. It was amazing to think that God gave these people strength to persevere even when all odds were against them. All of these stories have resonated with me in the sense that I still hold those values in my everyday life. I continue to believe in God and continue to pursue a stronger relationship with God every day. Even though there is so much doubt in the world today. I've read that the devil has his hand and everything in our world and the reason so many people are lost is because they do not have faith. I used to struggle with my faith when I was in High School. I struggled a lot with my identity and I stopped praying and having faith that God was truly with me. What kept me still believing in God during that time was my sophomore year of high school. I was transferring to a new school and the school offered programs of choice and I wanted to do Auto Collision. For some odd reason I was drawn to it I had never heard of it or even knew what it was. I also would be the only girl in my class if I were to join. I remember my mom telling me I should not pursue the program and I remember being scared of being the only girl in my class. I prayed about it the night before I had to confirm my decision and ultimately I was too scared and almost backed out. But God put me on the path to automotive because the principal had jumped the gun and went ahead and put me in the program. I saw that as my confirmation from God that this was what I was supposed to do. I fell in love with automotive and it became one of my greatest passions then I applied to college and decided to pursue engineering because God had laid that path out for me through working in automotive. There was also a time when me and my little sister had gotten into a car accident. It was weird because that entire day I felt horrible like something was weighing on me heavily and I didn't know what it was. I remember picking up my sister and I thought we should wait for traffic to pass which was something I never thought of before that moment but I believe God was trying to protect us. Unfortunately, I did not heed the warnings he was trying to give us but he kept us safe thankfully because my little sister was not wearing her seatbelt when the accident happened. There have been other times when God has spoken to me in dreams. I asked God for confirmation about a certain person in my life and I had a dream that this person would end up leaving my life. The dream resonated with me so much that I couldn't shake the feeling. And sure enough two weeks later this person told me they could not be in my life. I wasn't upset at all because God told me this would happen and I trust and have faith in God's plan. There are so many reasons why I believe in God and my faith has only continued to grow.

Math used to be my least favorite subject in school. But ironically I ended up majoring in Mechanical Engineering and my major is heavily math-based. Math is challenging it has been a challenge throughout my college career. But I started to love it once I took Calculus I. The course was challenging and I ultimately did not succeed the first time I took it. I struggled so much I was hesitant to retake the course. But I ultimately decided to push through and once I took the course again it all clicked. It was amazing what I was learning. Math essentially is another language and that's what I learned when I did retake Calculus I. I love the application of Calculus within all of my courses it is amazing to see the power that comes with math. Integrals fascinate me and I enjoy the real-world application of finding an area under the curve or the centroid of a structure which is applicable in Statics Mechanics. In Calculus II you could find the area of a disk and washer and I thought that was amazing. I remember being enamored with the application of Calculus II because it can be applied to Physics 1 and 2. With math, we know how to figure out how the world around us works. Math motivated me to continue my pursuit of engineering because math allows me to make a real impact on our world. Math can be found everywhere in our everyday lives and we would not be able to live without math. We would not know how to make bridges, refrigerators, engines, buildings, and many other types of structures and machinery we use in our everyday lives. I love the endless possibilities that math presents us. In the engineering world, they are working on amazing technological advancements. Which heavily involves the use of math. All the aerospace projects that SpaceX is working on require math to create a space-faring vehicle. We would be so limited without math that I can't imagine a world where we did not use such a tool.

Engineering was not my original career path. When I was in High School, I did not intend to enroll in college because all I wanted to do was be an Automotive Technician. My High School offered Auto Collision as a program of choice. I was the only woman in my class and that alone was an obstacle I pushed through at such a young age because I fell in love with the automotive world. I was so driven to make this my career path because I was encouraged to do so by technical college recruiters. I soon came to realize that there was so much more I could do in this world. My math teacher in high school scolded me for being so passionate about my automotive career. She was the one who said, "You can do so much more with automotive you can be the person who engineers and designs the vehicles". It wasn't until that moment my whole perspective changed. I had never fathomed that I could have the capacity to do more with automotive. My foundation in math wasn't great due to an experience I had as a child. I had a teacher yell at me for reworking a math problem in a different way than what she had taught us. That one moment had forever set me back. I never believed in my capabilities in math, and I never imagined the idea of pursuing a career in engineering. But ironically my math teacher in high school years later saw the potential in me to pursue a career in engineering. From there I was able to recognize that the work that I was doing in the automotive field required us to work with wrecked vehicles where people get injured. As much as I enjoyed the work of fixing the cars there were real stories attached to each vehicle we fixed. And we would have to avoid blood when working on some of these vehicles. I remember thinking to myself about how I could help develop a safer and more reliable vehicle if I were to pursue engineering. I can confidently say that the reason I wanted to pursue engineering is so I can make innovative changes to help people. I want to make our transportation systems safer because we spend about a third of our lives in some form of transportation. I am so excited to enter my fourth year of college as a mechanical engineering student. I have had the pleasure of meeting so many companies through the university and being able to get more involved on campus through my major. I am currently part of an organization on campus that builds a quarter-scale Formula 1 SAE vehicle. About ninety percent of that vehicle, we build from scratch. I have gotten to experience our manufacturing process with the Aerodynamics team. We had manufactured our side pods for the vehicle out of carbon fiber using Bell Helicopters autoclave. I also helped with the carbon fiber lay-ups that were done to produce our airfoils on the vehicle. I also collaborated with the powertrain subsystem to redesign a fuel tank with a triangular base using solid works. Not only did I dabble with the technical side of the organization I was also helping promote and fundraise for our vehicle. I was able to get a local body shop to sponsor our paint job. And I have so many more hands-on experiences with this upcoming year due to our organization switching to the Electric Vehicle Competition.