The quote of, “Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which [one] has overcome.” applies to me as a hispanic, female, attending a low income school, and the opportunities I have obtained in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math(STEM) Field. As a child growing up attending Title 1 schools, there has been an enormous amount of obstacles and setbacks faced in terms of scientific opportunity. From elementary school, I knew that I was passionate in STEM fields and that it was something that I wanted to pursue. However, finding scientific opportunity in a part of town that is dominated by private powerhouse STEM schools, would be challenging. The first step that I took was attending the Science and Engineering magnet program at a local high school that was in a low income area of town, seemingly decreasing my chances. I was hungry for a chance, so I began getting involved with the smaller opportunities within the magnet program such as STEM outreach at local elementary schools, providing activities and teaching the youth about different STEM fields. This allowed me to build connections with staff as I became more familiar to them. Following, I competed in the school science fair where I was then able to win 4th grand prize. I was then offered a spot on the Academic Research team where we would then go and compete around the state with our projects. I came to find out that I loved competing with my own research, so I continued research with Freshman year project throughout my Junior year. With the help of my Biotech teacher I was able to advance my research with my freshman year project, and from there ideas seemed to spur out. Finally it came competition day. Out of the blue, I find myself presenting to a judge at the school science fair that I am able to network with, and he offers me an opportunity to come and continue my research at the lab he works at. I am beyond speechless, and I email continuously with Him and one day in March I make my way to the lab and find myself in the spot that I had been searching for since elementary school. It seemed as if all odds had been against me, as I was in male dominated class, and was competing for the same opportunity they were, as well as needing to be in the right place at the right time. Every step that I took was in foundation for the opportunity that I achieved. I was able to defeat the odds, and pursue what I was passionate about, and still conduct my original research. I learned that in every circumstance there is something greater ahead, and not giving up on what you started with, despite hardships, is the key to success. I plan to use what I have learned in my undergraduate studies as a Biomedical Sciences/Engineering major, and in my graduate studies in medical school. I plan to pursue and MD-PhD to then work in the hospital as a physician, and continuing research in a lab.

As a young woman with an interest in the STEM field, locating opportunities to grow in this field has been challenging, but not impossible. To take the first step in my future, I applied to the Science and Engineering Magnet Program in my city to take the Biomedical Science course, only offered at this school. I was fortunate to get accepted to this school and have been pursuing research in the Biomedical Sciences field since 2021. Following that, I competed in the local Science Fair, in which I won and was put onto the Academic Research Team. The Academic Research Team allowed me to compete all over the state with my research, including the Texas State Science and Engineering Fair at Texas A&M University, in which I was the only female competitor from my school. From these leadership experiences, I was able to demonstrate that girls can prosper in male-dominated fields and that any girl can pursue their interests in the STEM field even if it seems impossible. I proved hard work and taking initiative can allow for growth in ways that seem intimidating but are valuable for the future. I have also taken the initiative in becoming a Co-Chair for my school STEAM Fest which is an entirely student-run outreach event for elementary and middle school students to interact with STEM activities and people in different fields. Being a Co-Chair allowed me to oversee every category that would be present in this event and all of the volunteers within the categories. Because this event was entirely student-run, I had a large amount of responsibility in communicating with admin and teachers, as well as the directors and volunteers that I would be managing. I also took on the role of coordinating the activities with each category to ensure that the kids would be able to learn a STEM concept from the activity, as well as have fun. Each category had to have at least 5 activities, and there were a total of 15 categories. I was responsible for the collection of material needs for each activity, so I would be able to communicate with admin what had to be ordered, and for the materials to come in on time. This one-day event took over 8 months of planning for it to go according to plan, and fortunately day of the event everything ran smoothly. From this leadership experience, I gained various skill sets that I know will benefit my future endeavors and initiatives. I hope to achieve a successful initiative from my leadership skills, as I know that I have the skillsets to manage people, communicate with different people, manage orders, and more.

The beautiful game has had my heart from a young age. I would watch my sister play growing up and knew that I had to play. From middle school, I knew that I wanted to be the goalkeeper because it was a tough job, and I loved challenges. My entire middle school career, I was scored on only once. I gained a sense of confidence from having a near-perfect record and wanted to continue playing in high school. However, the team that I wanted to join had gone three rounds deep into the playoffs, and earning a spot would be challenging. I practiced all summer with my sister and former teammates to keep myself in soccer shape and be ready for the season. When tryouts arrived, I was killing it. The night before, I was beyond nervous, but I was playing so well that people were cheering when I made impressive moves on key players and banger shots. I secured a varsity spot and was able to keep up the performance that I had at tryouts throughout the season. The work ethic that I gained from soccer persisted into my academics. I practiced the material to the point where I could not get anything less than an A because I knew it so well. My work ethic became a beneficial habit built on discipline and driven by passion. Soccer also helped me become a more open-minded and flexible person because in practice, we repeated the same drills together, but in games, we all had different ideas on what we thought would work best to win. It is not always easy seeing things the way certain teammates see things, but it is all for the common goal of winning. This affected my everyday life in the sense that not everyone is going to see or do things the same way I do, but overall, we are all working towards the common goal of living our best life. One final trait that I gained from soccer is my faith. I was so blessed to have a faith-driven team where we would pray over each other before the game for good health, our best playing ability, and to perform for His glory. Playing with people who were playing for the same purpose helped strengthen my confidence in my playing ability because I knew that Heavenly Father was watching over each of us in the game, and we trusted His plan for whatever direction He wanted for our team.