"Engineering is not a box. You can be whoever you want to be in engineering because that's what we are. We're problem-solvers. We are creatives. We are so many things. It's such a diverse field."
Middle School
"I just knew that I was meant to be a computer engineer at age 12."
There wasn't a lot of STEM awareness at Catherine's school so she used the internet to learn as much as she could. She won an HTML-coding contest in middle school by creating a website combining her two passions- fashion and coding.
College
"The university I went to was huge so I joined SHPE for the community and the Familia. Finding people that looked like me, that had the same passions and dreams as me was important because I was still finding myself."
SHPE
"My sophomore year, I started struggling a lot in my classes. I looked for help in the usual places (outside of SHPE) and instead of encouraging me, they ended up telling me that engineering was not my place. I was devastated and embarrassed to go back to my SHPE Familia. I felt like I let them down."
"They kept coming back to me, giving me resources, and telling me 'We are here with you because that's what familia is for.' I am so grateful to them for re-assuring me that engineering WAS my place."
Catherine left the engineering major but was encouraged to return and continue following her passion by her SHPE Familia.
Professional
"Once I got back into SHPE, I went to National Convention that same semester. I landed my dream internship at Intel."
"Since SHPE changed my life, I can't think of a better way to thank them than to give back to my chapter. My hope is to influence students to feel like they are a part of something bigger and that engineering is definitely for them."
Catherine is now the Student Chapter President at the University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley.
Advice
"My advice for a new SHPE member is to find a mentor. I am fortunate enough to have many mentors- not just mentors but lifelong friends. They've helped me pave my career path and have supported me emotionally. They are definitely my backbone."
Future
"This is not a success story that ends. My hope is that I can come back and keep inspiring SHPE-tinas to do whatever they want to do. We need that support system, especially for women, and I'm so happy to have that with SHPE."