Charting Her Own Path
Puerto Rican Public School Student Becomes Rising Technological Star
When Karelys received her university acceptance letter, she anticipated a scene similar to ‘the ones in the movies, where everyone’s happily screaming and excited.’ However, the reception she received was very different. “My family couldn’t understand why I didn’t want to stay at home and get a regular job.” After shedding a few tears of disappointment, Karelys moved on. However, it wasn’t until she connected with friends who had also received acceptance letters that she felt validated in celebrating her accomplishment.
Karelys’ story begins as a young girl growing up in Puerto Rico. Her aunt gave her a floppy disk containing games and puzzles involving math, science and logic. Karelys recollects playing on it ‘until the day it broke.’ The logic involved in computer games fascinated her.
Karelys continued her education at a Puerto Rican public high school. “It was a vocational school,” she explained. “You were equipped with the skills to perform a specific job, such as accounting.” Higher education was considered an unrealistic privilege. Karelys did not expect to go to university. “No one in my family had (gone).” But fate, in the form of Professor Nayda Santiago, was about to change all that.
When the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez hosted “Women in Engineering Week,” Professor Santiago introduced students to Machine Learning and Cyber Security. Karelys was fascinated. “I love this! How can I get into this area and learn more?”
Continue reading the full story at AnitaB.org.
Karelys López Rivera is the new undergraduate student representative for the AnitaB.org board of trustees. This story was written by Saranya Murthy, Wogrammer Journalism Fellow. Support our mission to celebrate more amazing women in tech, like the one featured here, by donating to AnitaB.org.
