I grew up in Irving, Texas, and I went to school in Irving ISD, a low income school district. Growing up, I knew I loved science and math, but the only career path I knew of that combined those was a medical career path because my school didn't have funding for other STEM enrichment opportunities.

When I got to college at Southern Methodist University (SMU), I went in as a pre-med student, and on my first day of class, I quickly realized that pre-med was not my passion, and that I did not want to become a doctor. Then, I saw a flyer to apply to solve a problem in the engineering school -- the flyer advertised that I'd get to work with engineering students for 7 days to Reinvent the Slurpee Experience for 7-Eleven. It sounded like a cool project, so I applied, and I luckily got accepted. I got to spend 7 days working with 9 engineering students of various disciplines, and I gained exposure to civil engineering, mechanical engineering, computer science, and management science, and I fell in love with mechanical engineering. I changed my major to mechanical engineering, and I never looked back.

After such an awesome opportunity, I realized that students I went to high school with may not have been as lucky to have been able to find their passion, and I wanted to change that. Because of that experience, not only did I find my passion for engineering, but I also found my passion for bridging the education gap and providing equal STEM opportunities for all students.