As the youngest of three girls raised by an immigrant single mother, Evelyn is well-acquainted with adversity. As Evelyn describes it, "We never had the money for all the materialistic things, let alone enough money to ensure dinner for all of us, but my mother's strength instilled in me a strong work ethic and the perseverance to keep going no matter how heavy the weight of it all is." This work ethic, along with the support of her family and community, allowed Evelyn to overcome her own struggles to become the valedictorian of Northbrook High School and get accepted into the Honors College at the University of Texas.
Evelyn also has a strong volunteer spirit. As a member of the National Honor Society, she volunteered at High School events like plays, football games, volleyball games, and career nights, running the concession stand and answering people's questions. As a member of SpringSpirit, she volunteered at their event held every Friday (Friday Night Lights), and on Saturdays, she would referee soccer games for the toddlers or help people sign in for their baseball games. Evelyn says her volunteer opportunities allowed her to grow and "get me out of my comfort zone."
Evelynn is now a Sophomore at UT studying aerospace engineering, maintaining a 3.4 GPA. This past year, she joined two student organizations, SHPE (Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers) and PSP (Pi Sigma Pi "group for minorities in Engineering"), where she says, "I was able to meet so many engineers feeling all of my same feelings and talk to older students who had gone through the experience and would advise me on how to keep going." After she graduates, Evelynn aspires to create a non-profit organization to "help others break that financial barrier between what they want to do and what they can afford to do."
