When I was seven, my mom knew she had to change. At the moment she was working at ACE Hardware. One day, she asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, and I told her I wanted to be like her. Of course, she did not want to accept the fact that I wanted to be a cashier. So, she got her GED and became a medical assistant. She showed me that there are better opportunities in life, we have to work to get there. My point is, the women that I grew up around were not college graduates. That is not their fault. They did not know who to go to or where to start in the first place. My mom is one great example of what motivates me to confront gender disparity in Texas, other examples include disparity in classrooms, and in leadership. I am a minority and while attending a predominantly white institution, I have noticed that the majority of my classmates are white males. As an Information Technology (IT) student at Texas Tech, part of the path that I am on requires you to take a Data Visualization class. I mention this class because of the valuable things I learned from my outstanding Professor, Radha Appan. I learned that it is possible to succeed, have a family, and other businesses as a woman in IT. In this class it became more prominent to me that I was not only one of the few minorities in the class, I was one of six women, including my professor. It was really strange when I realized this. I mean, I was in the middle of watching someone’s presentation at the end of the semester. I think this happened because I had become so accustomed to learning in a classroom full of men over the past three years that it took me so long to notice. So, I would like to inspire other women to join IT and be passionate about technology like me. Often, I have seen many minority women become or want to become engineers because that is what people are pushing for. However, I think it is time to also push women into more computer science, software, or IT spaces. During my junior year, I was an officer for the Society of Hispanic Professionals (SHPE) at Tech. I loved this opportunity. Our chapter began to participate in SHPE-tinas; a mini-organization that supported Hispanic and Latina women in STEM. We wanted to start promoting this branch because of the lack of women in the organization and engineering. Although the officers comprised some women, I still wanted to see more representation. This is, again, why I think it is important that I encourage my future daughters, nieces, granddaughters, and even incoming freshman to not be afraid to major in IT. IT is not just fixing computers and laptops and telling people to turn things on and off. IT is comprised of data, science, software, artificial intelligence, etc. I think we must explain to people that there is more to Information Technology than they believe. This, however, also contributes to the gender disparity in STEM in general. I am proud of the progress women have made in terms of starting their STEM journeys. We need to encourage and empower other women to join us in classrooms and leadership positions. Let this be the beginning.

Before the Spring 2022 semester at Texas Tech University, I knew little about technology and how living in the "Age of AI" truly affects us. During the semester, I took an Information Technology (IT) course focused on business. Although the course curriculum consisted of the basics of IT, learning about technology opened my eyes. Learning about how critical, necessary, and yet dangerous the technology we have today is, was intriguing. I feel this way because technology is constantly changing in the most interesting ways. For example, I never would have thought that companies such as Boston Dynamics would be able to create robots that can dance. I know that sounds a little weird, but these robots look like humans when they dance. Another concept I found interesting was Artificial Intelligence (AI). The one I find most interesting is IBM's, Watson. Before becoming a Business IT major, I majored in Business Management. My plan when I began studying at Texas Tech was to open my own cosmetic business, which I had been dreaming about for the last two years of high school. One day, I was walking to the bus after my IT class, and I thought to myself, "Is this actually my dream, or was I just convincing myself that it was?" This was when I began to think about switching my major, and eventually, I did. It feels great to know that I am now learning about a concept I enjoy. While I was trying to decide if I should switch to Business IT, I had a conversation with my partner about what I wanted to do. I remember he and I agreed that it would be great if there was a person that women/girls in STEM could look up to. I know there are many STEM/Tech icons. However, instead of mainly advertising Engineering to them, I would like to see more people pursuing Computer Science, Data Mining, Business Intelligence, etc. Another thing I noticed at Texas Tech was very little diversity in fields such as Business IT. So, I would like to be the person these girls could look up to. I feel it is necessary to inspire and encourage other women/girls to pursue other STEM fields, especially Black, Indigenous, Asian, Hispanic, and Latinx (BIPOC) women. Currently, I am on the Data Analytics track for my major. Maybe I won't be a celebrity or a big tech icon. I want to prove that BIPOC women can pursue untraditional STEM jobs and be successful.