I was born and raised in Miami by two Peruvian immigrants, during which I was exposed
to a melting pot of cultural diversity and learned several lessons from a young age:

1. Each culture is uniquely valuable because they offer new experiences and perspectives

2. Communication is complex and words only make a small part of a message's meaning

3. Hard work can outperform natural talent if that talent is not nurtured

I applied these lessons throughout my middle school and high school years, dedicating my free time to exploring new hobbies and excelling in my interests. I believe it was this involvement and leadership in my extracurriculars that helped me earn my admission into two Ivy Leagues.

 

In the fall of 2019, I moved away from home for the first time to attend the University of
Pennsylvania (UPenn), where I majored in Mechanical Engineering. There, I was exposed to
a new kind of diversity, socioeconomical, where I learned more valuable lessons, such as:

1. Tolerance and diversity should not be the goal, it should be a stepping stone towards
   acceptance and inclusion, respectively

2. Defining what success means is vital for effective decision-making, both for individuals and organizations

3. Financial situations must always be considered when analyzing situations because of its potential to affect every area of someone's life or company

I also learned a lot about myself, my life goals, and my definition of success. I wanted more breadth than depth in my academic studies, so that I may also integrate design and business in my profession. I wanted to live a life that prioritized cultivating meaningful relationships and giving back to my community over graduating from a prestigious university and earning X amount of money. These realizations led me to the hardest decision I have ever had to make, thus far.

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After having excelled at UPenn for 5 semesters, I decided to transfer and study
Interdisciplinary Engineering (IDE) at Florida International University (FIU), with
focus in Industrial Engineering. Within the first semester, I already felt that the
IDE curriculum was much more aligned with my professional goals. There was a
significant emphasis on both professional skills, like collaborating and presenting, and technical skills, such as human-centered design and systems thinking. I also learned what it means to be an ethical engineer, which requires the integration of DEI initiatives and a global perspective in a solution. The disciplinary diversity I encountered at FIU taught me that

1. Interdependency is one of the most effective forms of collaboration

2. Breadth is favorable when ideating, while depth is preferred for creating

3. The best solutions consider not only the end user, but the system they are a part of too

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As part of my commitment to giving back to my community, I have also been much more
involved in empowering Hispanic students through my involvement in two reputable
organizations: the Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF) and the Society of Hispanic Professional
Engineers (SHPE). As a 5x HSF Scholar, I was very grateful for their continued support so it
was honor when they selected me to serve as a mentor during their national Entrepreneurship
Summit and to speak at 2 of their events in Miami, sharing my story in front of 225 people.
As for SHPE, I got involved as a member at FIU's chapter during my first semester there. Seven
months later, I was elected as President of SHPE FIU, and since then it has been my privilege 
and duty to ensure that as many of our members get the internship and job offers they want
and need in order to succeed despite being a minority.​

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As an engineer, my goal is to leverage not only my IQ but EQ as well to talk with underprivileged populations, find a problem that they need solving, and devise contextualized solutions with little to no unintended consequences because so many factors were taken into consideration. Moreover, I plan on leveraging and facilitating cross-functional collaboration to execute the final idea and ensure that the end users have equitable access to their solution.