Nathaly Alpapucho

I would say my parents and their consistent support. Even though they haven't been aware of this entire new system - the culture, the language - even though they're unaware of how the education here in the U.S. works, they've always been really supportive, providing me with their consistent support, financial support, moral support, and emotional support. They've been there to give me advice, and I've been consistently being motivated and encouraged by their effort, seeing how hard they work, and I also want to do the same thing. The fact that my parents were able to leave everything behind and then move to another country to provide everything that I needed for me has consistently pushed me forward.

To always speak up and to always ask any sort of question, because closed mouths don't get fed, like that saying. Especially for women, if we don't advocate for ourselves, if we don't speak up about what our skills are or what we're currently interested in, none of those opportunities are gonna come knocking on our door. That doesn't happen to us. We have to go out there and chase what we're after, even if we don't know what we're looking for. We find people who are already out there, and we ask them for mentorship. We advocate for ourselves. Advocating for ourselves also means asking for help, and that's one of the main things that doesn't only happen for women, but also everyone else - we are really doubtful of ourselves. We don't ask questions because we don't want to come off seen as not prepared, and that shouldn't ever be a thing that we think about. It will be completely the opposite. The more that we care about where we're going and what we want to achieve and what our goals are, the more we should consistently advocate for ourselves, speak up, and consistently ask questions, because closed mouths don't get fed.

Don't ever doubt yourself. Trust your capability, even if you don't know where you're going. It's just about starting, it's just about taking action, and that's usually the hardest step - the starting point. After we're able to take on action, it doesn't get any easier, but it definitely gets a little better. But I would say the main point is don't ever doubt yourself, and every time there is any sort of doubt, process it, but also continue going. Don't stop.

Specifically in engineering, there isn't a lot of representation. There isn't a lot of women of color in leadership stances. As mentioned, it is a heavy male-dominated field, and not seeing other women who look like me or who share the same sort of background stories is often very discouraging. But at the same time, there isn't a lot of other people who would advocate for us. People who are like us - often immigrant or first-generation students or women of color - we don't have the same sort of confidence or resources that males have in their fields. So for us, it is harder for other people in leadership stands to advocate for us. That's one of the hardest challenges I've noticed throughout the years. In my undergraduate engineering classes, there weren't a lot of women who look like me. In my master's program, there's none - I believe in a class of 130 people involved in my master's program, I'm really the only Hispanic woman of color. So it's very discouraging, but at the same time, it is very motivating for me to achieve a leadership stance so I can also provide that sort of advocacy and open doors. In the past, through our organization, we've seen stories where people who look like us, women of color, reach leadership stands, work at companies, and are able to provide back, either by mentorship or one-on-one resume building, or they actually provide some sort of internship opportunities, opening new doors for us.

I would definitely say humility, self-awareness, and being empathetic.