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Students Visit White House for Hispanic Heritage Month Event

Nine Visitation students headed to the White House on Monday morning for a STEM-focused Hispanic Heritage Month event, hearing from a panel of Hispanic astronauts and aerospace engineers, before traveling to NASA headquarters. There they had the chance to see the signing of a Space Act Agreement between the Hispanic Heritage Foundation and NASA, formalizing their partnership and expanding STEM opportunities for Latino K-12 and university students, according to a press release from the Hispanic Heritage Foundation.

Gaby '25, co-president of the Latinas Unidas club, shared that she found the experience transformative. While she aims to study international affairs in college rather than STEM, she was most inspired by the personal stories of perseverance by the panelists. She recalled hearing the story of José Hernández, whose family were migrants and worked in the fields in California near the border of Mexico. He received more than 10 rejection letters from NASA before being approved to join their program, which Gaby said taught her, "don't give up. It was inspiring to hear."

The story with the biggest impact on Gaby was from Diana Trujilo - an aerospace engineer and now a flight director for NASA - who emigrated from Colombia to the US at the age of 17. She spoke little English, and worked to learn the language in Florida before choosing aerospace engineering as her major in college, and eventually graduating from the University of Maryland with her bachelor's in the subject.

"She doesn't have a Master's. She worked her way up," noted Gaby. "Hearing that, from a Latina in a leadership position, was super inspiring."

She shared that Diana's story was incredibly moving: "It was amazing, how she made a name for herself. Her heritage influenced her a lot; in a position of leadership, she uses what she knows - community, family, very Latina characteristics. She wants to know what is going on in her team, because it influences her work."

Mathlete Isabella '25 was also inspired by Diana's story as a fellow Colombian. "I was struck by her story and it made me want to work even harder to make as much of a difference as she has. The thought of moving to an entirely new country at my age without knowing the language is absolutely terrifying, but she did it and become one of the most successful and intelligent women in the country. Not to be cliche, but she really made it seem like anything is possible," said Isabella.

Gaby leaned into the Little Virtue of courage at the NASA event in the afternoon, approaching Diana to make a connection. "I just went up to her and spoke to her in Spanish, which I felt was important. I told her how she inspired me," she said. The two exchanged contact information, and Gaby is excited to continue to be in touch.

"It was overwhelming to see all these successful Latinos and Latinas in the positions they hold today," said Gaby. "It reaffirmed there are people like me in positions like that. I can achieve that."

The STEM-focus was important for Isabella. "I learned so much! I loved hearing about the process to become an astronaut, how the space industry is developing, and past and future projects that each panelist had," she said. "I will never forget it."

Gaby said the invitation to the event at the White House was motivation for her in and of itself: "I'm already doing something that is noticeable ... it gave me a spark of confidence. ... It gave me a sense of optimism, that maybe I'll be one of [those panelists] one day."

She is eager to bring her takeaways to the Latinas Unidas club. "I want to tell them that we are so lucky to have this education here and to have the privilege of attending Visi. It's our responsibility to carry that on and to make sure we're doing things that motivate us to achieve similar levels of success and excellence in the future," said Gaby.

"I would also tell them that, when you're walking into a room, regardless of context, you have a story. You're always walking in with your story," said Gaby. "Keep that in mind, because your story as Latinas can bring inspiration to others."

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