Sarah Macias often finds that her identity as a Hispanic female influences her academic experiences, although it never diminishes her passion for engineering. She feels that being a Hispanic female engineer is not easy because there are unspoken expectations that society has of her that don’t line up with her own.
Macias’ hometown is San Antonio, Texas, which is predominantly Hispanic. As the only one from her high school graduating class to pursue engineering, she attributes a great deal of that to cultural influences.
Macias, a chemical engineering junior, participates in the Zachry Leadership program, the Women in Engineering program, the Society of Women Engineers student organization, and is a member of the all-women autonomous underwater vehicle team. She realized she wanted to be an engineer after a visit to Houston’s Johnson Space Center.
“I learned that an engineer only needs to have an idea and the tenacity to make that idea a reality to change the world,” Macias said. “I left the space center that day knowing that I was meant to be an engineer.”
Although she found her calling in engineering, Macias came from a place where the concept of pursuing higher education was unfamiliar and where she was encouraged and expected to stay home.
While at first unsupportive of her decision to study at Texas A&M, Macias said that her large family has since fallen in love with the campus and the beauty that comes with Texas A&M.
My mother completely changed sides and probably bleeds more maroon than I do.
Above anything, Macias said that she ultimately wants to make her parents beam with pride after she is able to show them her diploma when she walks the stage at graduation.
“All the tears, phone calls, and sacrifices will have been worth it,” Macias said. “It will be at this moment when I tell them that they can live worry-free because I can take care of them.”
She said she is grateful for the chance to attend school because of the sacrifices her parents have made for her. After all, having the opportunity to attend college was not something her parents were able to have.
“There will be no greater feeling than showing my parents my diploma because I wasn’t supposed to leave home, but I knew I had to chase my dream of becoming an engineer,” Macias said.
Macias wishes to spend her remaining two years as a student encouraging other female engineers to pursue their passion for engineering.
“Do not let anyone attempt to control the fire that you have within you,” Macias said. “We all have a passion, but it does no good for you or the world if you do not act on it and persevere through the obstacles it brings.”