Ximena Barbosa

I attribute my success to doing what I love and enjoy. Throughout my career, I received advice from so many people during my schooling to do what you like and do what you enjoy. As a biochemical engineer who loves STEM-related things and teaching, I have followed that advice at every level, from high school to college teaching. People look at me after I've spent a whole week working with students and ask how I'm doing, and I tell them I'm super happy because we were able to put three robots together and two of them were working. I go back home feeling like I accomplished so much. Doing what you like is super big for you to be happy. When you do something that you enjoy, you don't feel the hard work so much, and that makes you better equipped to overcome any issues.

The best career advice I ever received was to do what you would like to do. I studied to become a biochemical engineer because I like to do a lot of STEM-related things, and I like to teach. Throughout my schooling, so many people told me to do what I like and do what I enjoy, and I have followed that advice in taking my career path. I have taught at the high school level and at the college level, always following this guidance. People look at me after a whole week of working with students and I tell them yes, we were able to put three robots together and two of them were working, so I was able to go back home super happy, feeling like I accomplished so much. Doing what you like is super big for you to be happy. When you do something that you enjoy, you don't feel the hard work so much, and that makes you better equipped to overcome any issues.

My advice to women entering my industry is that they can do whatever they want. If there's a will, there is a way. There are always going to be obstacles, problems, and people that are more complicated, but nevertheless, if you work hard and do something that you enjoy, you don't feel the hard work so much. You will be better equipped to overcome any issues if you are willing to work hard. I think if there's a will, there's a way. My students here from Fort Hood, some of them had very complicated family lives. Nevertheless, once they understood that working on learning new skills and getting an education is basically the way to get them out of some difficult family situations and is the road to a better life, they started working even harder on their studies and with us in their STEM-related activities.

The opportunities in my field right now are tremendous. There are so many things that can be done if we use artificial intelligence, for example. If we use it in the correct way, we will be able to do things in a shorter amount of time with less effort, so that we can do some newer things and come up with other types of things that are new. That's one of the things that I want for my students to discover. As for challenges, I still see that sometimes ladies are not treated so fantastically or are not being chosen for some tasks because they are females. We work on that by teaching them how to ask questions and to be a little bit more forthcoming. I want to believe that most of the people that choose not to select a female for a certain position is because, really, they do not know all the things that this female can provide in this position.

In my work, the values most important to me are being responsible, being reliable, and being approachable. These qualities are super important regarding my colleagues, my students, and my bosses. I talk a lot to all my students about this. First of all, if there's a will, there is a way. You can do anything, and it will come out fantastic as long as you want to do it. You need to be somebody that is trustworthy, that others can rely on, that others can trust. If I tell my students I'm going to be there at 3 p.m. or 9 a.m. so that we can work on making soap or planning some chemical activities, and I don't show up, that will mean for my kids that people say things and not necessarily they are going to complete what they are saying they will do. I try to be earlier than I'm supposed to be so they can see what happens if you are late and everybody needs to wait. If you're somebody reliable, you're able to teach and to show how much responsibility, being on time, working on your part, teaching others, and helping others matters. These skills are super important not only in your personal life but also in your work life. In my personal life, something that has always been very important is to be truthful. I try to communicate what I want, what I need, and what we need as well as possible.