I was born to very hard working parents who inspired me through all my life. I knew since I was a little girl that I needed to do my best given that my parents were doing 

more than their best. My mom always held two jobs, one as a housewife and the other 

as a seamstress where she designed, sewed, and sold uniforms to local kindergartens. 

I remember her always working so hard at nights or early in the mornings sometimes under extreme heat since we did not have air conditioning at home. My dad worked at a company until I was 9 years old when he was laid-off and started to work as a provider of fruits and vegetables to local restaurants. He used to buy the groceries very early in the morning, load himself a little truck, drive it and unload it, I tagged along with him sometimes and watched him carry heavy sacks of food. Since I was in 4th grade I started telling my mom that I wanted to be a scientist. My mom always told me that if God gave me special talents, I should work hard to cultivate them, and always try my best. She told me that I should not be driven by stereotypes. Though I am sure my mom knew that I was dreaming too high but she never discouraged me. What is a scientist for a 10 year old Mexican girl in the 1980s? Well, certainly a man, definitively not very young and of course not Hispanic. When it was time to enroll in college, I decided for Mechanical Engineering even though in Mexico it was not considered a major for girls, but my mom encouraged me, not fully knowing if it was the right decision. I received my BS, double major Mechanical Engineering/Business Administration. I was the only woman to graduate in my class and apparently second in the history of the University. During my last semesters I took extra credits since the Mexican economy was deteriorating as well as my family’s economy. I knew that I needed to graduate as soon as possible to avoid the high probability of dropping out of school to work and help my parents. My last semester was very hard on them. I always held side jobs selling water filters, as a swimming instructor, or waitress. As a coincidence, when I graduated, my dad lost his job, but thanks to God I started working as a technical advisor in a company and was able to provide for them. On my Senior year I started to consider the opportunity to pursue graduate school not fully knowing what it was. I signed for the TOEFL and GRE tests (just in case). During this time, two professors from Rice University visited UDEM looking for students to start an outreach program. I filled the application, on April 1994 I was offered a Rice fellowship. When I learned about it, it was a very difficult moment. I was very excited about the opportunity, but very confused about leaving my house, being the oldest one, and the only one with a salary, on August 1994 I started my graduate studies at Rice U under the excellent guidance of Dr. Enrique V. Barrera. My 1st year at Rice was extremely difficult, the courses were difficult, the cultural shock, and the concern about my family made it even more difficult. I worked really hard (as my parents always showed me), got adjusted to the culture and saved money on everything (even on food, my budget for meals was $23.00/week) so I could send money to my family in Mexico. 

I received my Master’s degree in May 1999; I defended my thesis being five months pregnant, my angel Jorge was born on 1996. On April 7, 1999, I presented my dissertation, it was such an exciting moment for my family, I worked extremely hard for that moment. I was the first Mexican woman to receive a PhD in Science and Engineering from Rice in more than 87 years and fifth among all women to get a PhD from the department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science. On August 2001 I found out that I was pregnant for the second time, we were very excited about it. I had a difficult pregnancy but kept my work as usual, finally at the beginning of my sixth month I was ordered bed rest. At the end of the seventh month Marcelo was born. Being premature he stayed in the ICU for five days, the day we took him home, we received a phone call from Mexico; we were informed that my dad had just passed away. He was relatively healthy and died from a heart attack. It was such a sad day and still can not recover from it, but I do know that he was very proud of me. I now missed him, but he left leaving what is more important in life, an educated child that can contribute to her community. All my life I have worked so hard, nothing has been easy but I have learned that through perseverance and hard work, dreams can come true. I have a friend that once described me as somebody that never gives up when trouble shows up “nunca se te atora la carreta”. I am thankful to God that He has provided me with talents and has surrounded me with people that I can rely on, my parents, my brother, my husband and my two little angels. Now I fight to open educational paths for all my students and beyond!

Karen Lozano