Puerto Rico and El Salvador
As a second generation Latina immigrant, ever since I was a young girl, my parents taught me compassion for others and a desire to make a difference. I was attracted to the sciences, beginning in my middle school years, when I learned how medical researchers help improve people’s lives. In high school, driven by this personal interest, I realized that there are disciplines such as computer science that are interrelated with the medical field. Through computer science, 3D prosthetics can be printed, genetic codes can be analyzed (bioinformatics), and robots can be programmed to assist surgeons.
I am currently a National Academy Foundation of Information Technology candidate at my high school and am studying advanced Java. My previous projects have revolved around the creation of Android mobile phone applications. I am a Girls Who Code Summer Immersion Program alumna and previous Walter Reed Institute of Research Apprentice. I won the National Center for Women in Technology (NCWIT) Maryland and Delaware Affiliate Award for Aspirations in Computing and the National runner-Up Award in 2014 and 2015. I am a past Technovation Challenge Competitor and am the leader of my high school's Student Women in Technology club. I enjoy competing at computing hackathons regularly, as well as attending computer science conferences. I am a quick-witted and driven individual. After completing a future college degree in computer science, I aspire to secure a position that will utilize my computer programming skills in the medical science field.
Coding allows us to make, discover, and connect. Computer science intersects every discipline and is useful in answering lots of big questions we have in the world -- it is so much more than math and video games (although it is related to those things too!). It can help us uncover hidden stories in large datasets, make art more interactive and accessible, and be used as a tool to take new measurements about the world in which we live -- as a tool to communicate with each other, regardless of location.
