To be honest, I never expected to find myself in engineering. Rather than choosing this path on my own, I like to say that Engineering chose me. My journey to this career is anything but typical. I never wanted to go to college, nor did I imagine this future when I grew up. My family and I immigrated to America in the early 90’s, fleeing the war in Nicaragua. Both my parents were in the military, and we came here as refugees. Naturally, I figured I would follow in their footsteps.
In December of 2008, I enlisted into the United States Marine Corps. I had every intention of being a “lifer” as we say. I thought I would retire as a Marine doing 20+ years, but God had other plans for me. Instead, after sustaining several injuries, surgeries and treatments, I was medically retired in 2016. I truly had no idea what I would do with my life, but I was a single mother of three and I felt I had limited options.
Once I retired, I realized I could not afford to live where I was, so I packed myself and my kids and drove halfway across the country down to Texas with $100 in my pocket and put the rest in God’s hands. I knew that the traumatic brain injuries I suffered really messed up my memory and my ability to retain a lot of information, so I feared going to school and failing. However, knowing that the military would pay for me to attend school, I made the decision to register shortly after arriving.
I went to school for the sole purpose of putting food on the table. After just one year, I graduated with my Associates of Science and did not know what to do next, but I knew I needed to continue. I told my counselor, “I like math, science and art. What can I do with that?” Naturally, she guided me towards engineering. I said, “Ok, sure! That sounds fancy.”
I went back to school and achieved my Associates of Science in Civil Engineering, at which point I was all in. I went on to attend UT Tyler, where after seven years of school and failing classes due to my health, I finally graduated with my Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering. At this point, I had no plans or idea what I was doing or where I was going with this degree, but I knew I needed a job. Fortunately for me, Truman Edminster was my professor. I came to him and asked him if he thought I was a good fit for his company, and he told me the Facilities team is looking to hire and asked if I was interested. Intrigued, I asked what that was. He said, “You know, that lift station you designed for your project?” I said “Oh, yeah! That was hard! Cool, I like a challenge.” That is when I became Paul Anderson’s headache (Haha).
All jokes aside, the last 2.5 years I have been at EHRA Engineering have been the most challenging but rewarding years of my life. I have learned so much and accomplished so much in such a short period of time, and I take so much pride in my work. From months of designing our main template for concrete bullseyes and EHRA’s first reuse system to now becoming a director for a MUD in Brazoria County! Paul has been by far the best leader I have ever had the privilege of working under, and I look forward to the many more years ahead that I get to continue to grow and learn from him and all my project managers.
I am grateful to be part of a company that puts our families first. Being a single mother in a demanding career field can be overwhelming, especially having no family in Texas. The Facilities team and its leaders have been a blessing, who have supported me and made it possible for me to be both a mother and an engineer. Our team is a family, and we are each other’s biggest supporters. Because of them, I look forward to coming to work every day; we have fun, we learn, we grow, we celebrate and we cry together. Their understanding of my learning styles and patience with me are the greatest gifts I could find in a team.
Ultimately, I do this for my kids, and I want to inspire them and others to never give up. I hope to reach other people who feel they are not capable, especially single parents who think it is impossible. I want everyone to know that even through failures, setbacks or tough times, your goals are attainable, and the struggle is worth it. Never give up, and don’t make excuses.
