Balancing three jobs while attending college full-time is far from easy, yet it has been my reality. Two of those jobs are research positions—one studying neutrinos using Machine Learning, and the other studying the Spin Hall effect in carbon-implanted gold. The latter was a pivotal decision. Before accepting the second research job, I seriously considered working as a waitress because I could barely afford groceries. With rent leaving me only $200 a month, I faced the harsh reality of choosing between financial stability and academic opportunity. Ultimately, I chose to invest in my future, a decision that reaffirmed my commitment to my passion for physics. In many ways, the past three years of research have offered me greater clarity and insight into myself, my future, and my goals than all my previous years of education. In the future, I would love to pursue research–either theoretical or experimental–in Condensed Matter physics. As I work toward my goal of attending graduate school in physics, I’m driven by the desire to challenge stereotypes and pave the way for others like me. I want to prove that representation in science matters and that success is achievable for anyone with determination and passion. Being a Latina in physics is daunting, especially because 2.5 Latina women annually earn PhDs in Physics. This is one of the many reasons that I decided to become the president of my physics club at UC Irvine. My club, which is the UC Irvine Chapter of Society of Physics Students, has allowed me to directly impact the lives of younger Latino and other minority groups in Physics. I use my club and its funding to do outreach in marginalized areas (such as schools in Compton, Fullerton, etc. with large populations of minority groups) where I, and a few of my board members that I select, give talks on how to get into college, encourage interest in Physics (and STEAM), and provide financial aid information. I also work as a mentor to 10 minority (mostly Hispanic) physics freshman at UC Irvine, which has given them opportunities such as undergraduate research. I do this all in hopes of being the guide that I wish I could have had during my high school and early college years. My path has been anything but easy, yet I am proud of the choices I’ve made and the challenges I’ve overcome. My faith in myself has been my greatest ally, carrying me through moments of doubt and hardship. As I look toward graduate school and beyond, I remain steadfast in my belief that I can and will make meaningful contributions to Condensed Matter physics and changes to the larger physics community as a whole.

Balancing three jobs while attending college full-time is far from easy, yet it has been my reality. Two of those jobs are research positions—one studying neutrinos using Machine Learning, and the other studying the Spin Hall effect in carbon-implanted gold. The latter was a pivotal decision. Before accepting the second research job, I seriously considered working as a waitress because I could barely afford groceries. With rent leaving me only $200 a month, I faced the harsh reality of choosing between financial stability and academic opportunity. Ultimately, I chose to invest in my future, a decision that reaffirmed my commitment to my passion for physics. In many ways, the past three years of research have offered me greater clarity and insight into myself, my future, and my goals than all my previous years of education. In the future, I would love to pursue research–either theoretical or experimental–in Condensed Matter physics. As I work toward my goal of attending graduate school in physics, I’m driven by the desire to challenge stereotypes and pave the way for others like me. I want to prove that representation in science matters and that success is achievable for anyone with determination and passion. Being a Latina in physics is daunting, especially because 2.5 Latina women annually earn PhDs in Physics. This is one of the many reasons that I decided to become the president of my physics club at UC Irvine. My club, which is the UC Irvine Chapter of Society of Physics Students, has allowed me to directly impact the lives of younger Latino and other minority groups in Physics. I use my club and its funding to do outreach in marginalized areas (such as schools in Compton, Fullerton, etc. with large populations of minority groups) where I, and a few of my board members that I select, give talks on how to get into college, encourage interest in Physics (and STEAM), and provide financial aid information. I also work as a mentor to 10 minority (mostly Hispanic) physics freshman at UC Irvine, which has given them opportunities such as undergraduate research. I do this all in hopes of being the guide that I wish I could have had during my high school and early college years. My path has been anything but easy, yet I am proud of the choices I’ve made and the challenges I’ve overcome. My faith in myself has been my greatest ally, carrying me through moments of doubt and hardship. As I look toward graduate school and beyond, I remain steadfast in my belief that I can and will make meaningful contributions to Condensed Matter physics and changes to the larger physics community as a whole.

Balancing three jobs while attending college full-time is far from easy, yet it has been my reality. Two of those jobs are research positions—one studying neutrinos using Machine Learning, and the other studying the Spin Hall effect in carbon-implanted gold. The latter was a pivotal decision. Before accepting the second research job, I seriously considered working as a waitress because I could barely afford groceries. With rent leaving me only $200 a month, I faced the harsh reality of choosing between financial stability and academic opportunity. Ultimately, I chose to invest in my future, a decision that reaffirmed my commitment to my passion for physics. In many ways, the past three years of research have offered me greater clarity and insight into myself, my future, and my goals than all my previous years of education. In the future, I would love to pursue research–either theoretical or experimental–in Condensed Matter physics. As I work toward my goal of attending graduate school in physics, I’m driven by the desire to challenge stereotypes and pave the way for others like me. I want to prove that representation in science matters and that success is achievable for anyone with determination and passion. Being a Latina in physics is daunting, especially because 2.5 Latina women earn physics PhDs annually in the US. This is one of the many reasons that I decided to become the president of my physics club at UC Irvine. My club, which is the UC Irvine Chapter of Society of Physics Students, has allowed me to directly impact the lives of younger Latino and other minority groups in Physics. I use my club and its funding to do outreach in marginalized areas (such as schools in Compton, Fullerton, etc. with large populations of minority groups) where I, and a few of my board members that I select, give talks on how to get into college, encourage interest in Physics (and STEAM), and provide financial aid information. I also work as a mentor to 10 minority (mostly Hispanic) physics freshman at UC Irvine, which has given them opportunities such as undergraduate research. I do this all in hopes of being the guide that I wish I could have had during my high school and early college years. My path has been anything but easy, yet I am proud of the choices I’ve made and the challenges I’ve overcome. My faith in myself has been my greatest ally, carrying me through moments of doubt and hardship. As I look toward graduate school and beyond, I remain steadfast in my belief that I can and will make meaningful contributions to Condensed Matter physics and changes to the larger physics community as a whole.

Balancing three jobs while attending college full-time is far from easy, yet it has been my reality. Two of those jobs are research positions—one studying neutrinos using Machine Learning, and the other studying the Spin Hall effect in carbon-implanted gold. The latter was a pivotal decision. Before accepting the second research job, I seriously considered working as a waitress because I could barely afford groceries. With rent leaving me only $200 a month, I faced the harsh reality of choosing between financial stability and academic opportunity. Ultimately, I chose to invest in my future, a decision that reaffirmed my commitment to my passion for physics. In many ways, the past three years of research have offered me greater clarity and insight into myself, my future, and my goals than all my previous years of education. In the future, I would love to pursue research–either theoretical or experimental–in Condensed Matter physics. As I work toward my goal of attending graduate school in physics, I’m driven by the desire to challenge stereotypes and pave the way for others like me. I want to prove that representation in science matters and that success is achievable for anyone with determination and passion. Being a Latina in physics is daunting, especially because 2.5 Latina women annually earn PhDs in Physics. This is one of the many reasons that I decided to become the president of my physics club at UC Irvine. My club, which is the UC Irvine Chapter of Society of Physics Students, has allowed me to directly impact the lives of younger Latino and other minority groups in Physics. I use my club and its funding to do outreach in marginalized areas (such as schools in Compton, Fullerton, etc. with large populations of minority groups) where I, and a few of my board members that I select, give talks on how to get into college, encourage interest in Physics (and STEAM), and provide financial aid information. I also work as a mentor to 10 minority (mostly Hispanic) physics freshman at UC Irvine, which has given them opportunities such as undergraduate research. I do this all in hopes of being the guide that I wish I could have had during my high school and early college years. My path has been anything but easy, yet I am proud of the choices I’ve made and the challenges I’ve overcome. My faith in myself has been my greatest ally, carrying me through moments of doubt and hardship. As I look toward graduate school and beyond, I remain steadfast in my belief that I can and will make meaningful contributions to Condensed Matter physics and changes to the larger physics community as a whole.

Balancing three jobs while attending college full-time is far from easy, yet it has been my reality. Two of those jobs are research positions—one studying neutrinos using Machine Learning, and the other studying the Spin Hall effect in carbon-implanted gold. The latter was a pivotal decision. Before accepting the second research job, I seriously considered working as a waitress because I could barely afford groceries. With rent leaving me only $200 a month, I faced the harsh reality of choosing between financial stability and academic opportunity. Ultimately, I chose to invest in my future, a decision that reaffirmed my commitment to my passion for physics. In many ways, the past three years of research have offered me greater clarity and insight into myself, my future, and my goals than all my previous years of education. In the future, I would love to pursue research–either theoretical or experimental–in Condensed Matter physics. As I work toward my goal of attending graduate school in physics, I’m driven by the desire to challenge stereotypes and pave the way for others like me. I want to prove that representation in science matters and that success is achievable for anyone with determination and passion. Which is one of the many reasons that I decided to become the president of my physics club at UC Irvine. My club, which is the UC Irvine Chapter of Society of Physics Students, has allowed me to directly impact the lives of younger Latino and other minority groups in Physics. I use my club and its funding to do outreach in marginalized areas (such as schools in Compton, Fullerton, etc. with large populations of minority groups) where I, and a few of my board members that I select, give talks on how to get into college, encourage interest in Physics (and STEAM), and provide financial aid information. I also work as a mentor to 10 minority (mostly Hispanic) physics freshman at UC Irvine, which has given them opportunities such as undergraduate research. I also have made multiple academic events, where I point my club members to many opportunities that they may have not been aware of. An example was holding a undergraduate research talk, where I explained how to get into research as an undergraduate (which I jumped into freshman year) and the many skills one may need to pursue undergraduate research. This led to many of my club members actually joining labs at UC Irvine. I also am planning on running a REU (Research Education for Undergraduates) panel where I explain how to apply for REUs and other summer research opportunities. I do this all in hopes of being the guide that I wish I could have had during my high school and early college years. My path has been anything but easy, yet I am proud of the choices I’ve made and the challenges I’ve overcome. My faith in myself has been my greatest ally, carrying me through moments of doubt and hardship. As I look toward graduate school and beyond, I remain steadfast in my belief that I can and will make meaningful contributions to Condensed Matter physics and changes to the larger physics community as a whole.

Balancing three jobs while attending college full-time is far from easy, yet it has been my reality. Two of those jobs are research positions—one studying neutrinos using Machine Learning, and the other studying the Spin Hall effect in carbon-implanted gold. The latter was a pivotal decision. Before accepting the second research job, I seriously considered working as a waitress because I could barely afford groceries. With rent leaving me only $200 a month, I faced the harsh reality of choosing between financial stability and academic opportunity. Ultimately, I chose to invest in my future, a decision that reaffirmed my commitment to my passion for physics. In many ways, the past three years of research have offered me greater clarity and insight into myself, my future, and my goals than all my previous years of education. In the future, I would love to pursue research–either theoretical or experimental–in Condensed Matter physics. As I work toward my goal of attending graduate school in physics, I’m driven by the desire to challenge stereotypes and pave the way for others like me. I want to prove that representation in science matters and that success is achievable for anyone with determination and passion. Which is one of the many reasons that I decided to become the president of my physics club at UC Irvine. My club, which is the UC Irvine Chapter of Society of Physics Students, has allowed me to directly impact the lives of younger Latino and other minority groups in Physics. I use my club and its funding to do outreach in marginalized areas (such as schools in Compton, Fullerton, etc. with large populations of minority groups) where I, and a few of my board members that I select, give talks on how to get into college, encourage interest in Physics (and STEAM), and provide financial aid information. I also work as a mentor to 10 minority (mostly Hispanic) physics freshman at UC Irvine, which has given them opportunities such as undergraduate research. I do this all in hopes of being the guide that I wish I could have had during my high school and early college years. My path has been anything but easy, yet I am proud of the choices I’ve made and the challenges I’ve overcome. My faith in myself has been my greatest ally, carrying me through moments of doubt and hardship. As I look toward graduate school and beyond, I remain steadfast in my belief that I can and will make meaningful contributions to Condensed Matter physics and changes to the larger physics community as a whole.