2017-2018 College Track Annual Report CT_AR_JAN2019_digital | Page 15

I was born at Stanford Hospital before
my family moved back to Mexico. We
spent my early childhood in a little town
and came back to the US as I was entering
kindergarten. Learning English grammar
was fairly easy for me at a young age and I
excelled academically. I had the fortune of
getting a scholarship to Menlo School, an
elite private school in Atherton, CA, with
infinite resources and connections. Unlike
my brother’s high school, Menlo had small
classrooms, a hands-on robotics class, after
school tutoring, well-connected college
advisors, and elaborate homecoming floats.
At first glance, it wasn’t missing anything.
However, it didn’t take long for me to
experience immense culture shock at Menlo.
I wasn’t prepared to show up for study
groups at friends’ homes whose pool houses
were larger than my modest home. I wasn’t
prepared to answer questions on behalf
of all Latinos because I was the only Latina
in the classroom. This was the outcome of
completely different socioeconomic worlds,
ignorant of each other and clashing every
day from 8am to 3pm.
After only two weeks of driving out of the
clean cut lawns of Atherton across the
101 and through the sidewalk-less streets
of East Palo Alto, I realized there was no
way I would get through this part of my
life without College Track. The moment I
would step into the center, my shoulders
would drop and my guard would go down.
I could do my homework without feeling
the need to explain or defend my story,
without worrying about casual conversations
leading into awkward topics about status.
My College Track peers and I came from the
same neighborhoods: we went to Chavez
Supermarket to buy groceries, we had the
same ice cream man, we went to the same
quinceañeras — little parts of my culture I
didn’t have to constantly explain. College
Track not only let me decompress every day
2017–2018 ANNUAL REPORT
after school but also gave me a support
system. I found people I could lean
on as I was code-switching between my
home and this new school life.
At College Track, I became more comfort-
able with who I was and how I fit in at my
elite high school, and the parts I played in
all of my worlds. I learned which road blocks
each network could help me tackle. My high
school classmates were financially well off
and could pay for college, so that meant the
school didn’t need to assist students with
seeking financial aid. College Track staff
knew the importance of involving my parents
early on and breaking down financial aid
packets from my prospective colleges
because that would become a major
deciding factor in the process.
Because of College Track, I felt prepared
when I got into Massachusetts Institute
of Technology (MIT). and began to study
Mechanical Engineering. At MIT, I battled
instances of impostor syndrome where I felt
like I didn’t belong. My older brother had
also come up through College Track and had
gone on to UC Berkeley to study Applied
Mathematics, so I knew I could do it if I
committed to the work.
When I completed my degree, I got my dream
job — as a systems engineer on underwater
vehicles at Boeing. I was fascinated to find
out what was in the 95 percent of the ocean
that hasn’t been explored. This gave me a
chance to break down barriers for others,
including the other eight members of my
family who have come up through College
Track. There are moments in my career where
I look around the room of engineers and
see that I’m the only person of color. But I
remember that I am a Latina woman working
on underwater vehicles. I have earned my way
to a top engineering company. These days, I
return to the College Track center in East Palo
Alto and tutor so that others can contribute
their gifts to the world.
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