I remember traveling to Cape Canaveral as a little girl to watch the shuttle launches from Jetty Beach and thinking how cool it would be to work in the aerospace industry.
During the global financial crisis, my mother struggled to receive unemployment benefits after losing her job, and I remember opening the pantry to find it was empty except for a single can of beans. I walked across town to apply for a job stocking shelves at the food pantry so I could bring home groceries in my backpack every week. The night my mother and I were evicted from our apartment, I slept in the back seat of her car and washed my hair in the McDonald’s bathroom sink before school. I spent my last year of high school working both as a tutor and at the food pantry to support my family.
Over the next several years, I held a number of jobs with the goal to receive a formal education and alleviate the worry I experienced as a child. I worked retail, food service, Lyft — You name it! I did it all in order to pay rent and save up for a semester of community college. I finished my associate degree in 2017 and moved to Colorado that summer to be closer to opportunities that would allow me to serve or support our military in some way.
In 2019, I landed an interview with a newly merged company called L3Harris and accepted a technician role, which suited my trade school background. I started as “technician A,” not at all sure what that meant at first. Being “technician A” would grow to mean that for the first time in my life, I didn’t need a second job to pay rent. Among a variety of benefits, I learned the company also provided tuition assistance and would pay for my education in full. I enrolled at Arizona State University Online as soon as I could and began to earn a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering.
I’m set to graduate next year thanks to L3Harris. I’ll also be able to complete a master’s degree in radio frequency and systems. Today, I am an engineer working in the space sector helping the military track objects in orbit and coordinating with the government on new projects. I get to watch rocket launches and talk about how cool my job is to the next generation of kids who want to do something cool in space. Pinch me, I must be dreaming!
