Medical devices by Maria

Medical devices by Maria - April 2024 Scholarship Essay

Coming from a Hispanic background I have seen my parents financially struggle. Especially when it comes to purchasing medical devices for my grandam, my granda has high blood pressure and diabetes and there have been times when her doctor has recommended some devices that will help her track her blood pressure and insulin levels. There have been times when her medical devices have recorded inaccurate information because when seeing concerning numbers my parents have taken her to the emergency room. Still, most of the time the nurses have told us she is fine. With having this experience I have set a goal for myself to help improve medical device accuracy while having devices at a reasonable price so everyone could purchase them.

In addition to helping my grandma, growing up in a trailer village I have heard a lot of stories about my neighbors wanting their perspective and needs to be taken into account when a company is building a new product. For example, when it comes to AI and human robots they are most concerned about losing their job positions and being replaced. As a Hispanic woman in engineering, I will keep in mind some of my neighbors' concerns and bring up that perspective when collaborating with my team members. By being able to collaborate with my team members I will not only be able to work on projects with them but it will also help me grow as a person and develop a more open mindset.

Being granted this scholarship will allow me to not just go to college and pursue my goals but also see how my hard work has paid off. Communicating with my teachers when I don’t understand a concept, and asking my peers clarifying questions has come a long way. Throughout my high school career, one thing that I learned and something I will never forget is to not give up, to keep pushing. I know it sounds corny but every time I felt like giving up I took a deep breath and thought about the goals I have set for myself. That is what keeps me going, but also being able to take part in an internship at Skydio, a drone company, and seeing how engineers worked together to solve a problem was something I saw myself doing in the future. Having the opportunity to also talk to the CEO of Skydio and hear about the roadblock he had to go through made me realize that the path to success is where a lot of mistakes are made. Learning from those mistakes and not giving up is the path to success. With getting financial support throughout my college career I will do my part in learning from my mistakes, taking risks, getting out of my comfort zone, and most importantly being able to learn to further reach my goals.

To conclude, being a Hispanic woman in engineering will allow me to use my knowledge and help create accurate medical devices but also bring up a low-income Hispanic perspective to ensure their points of view are heard.