Sixteen-year-old Selena Mancera would like to be an engineer one day, but she has many obstacles that could crush her dreams. Selena resides in Chandler’s “Most at Risk” community and comes from a single parent home. Her mother is a loving, hard-working parent who cleans other people’s homes for a living and barely earns a wage to support Selena and two other siblings. Although she realizes the importance of getting Selena a good education, she needs Selena to help pay the bills.
Selena attends Chandler High School, maintains a 3.5 GPA and takes advanced placement classes. She is involved in several service-oriented school clubs as well as Si Se Puede’s after-school tutoring and the Lego Robotics program.
Two years ago, Selena was not interested in science and technology. In fact, she wasn’t sure if college was in her future. Occasionally, she would visit the robotics program, but not as a willing participant. Her brother would bring her along to, as he described it, “babysit her”. In time, Selena gained confidence and occasionally involved herself in the program. She asked questions and found herself designing and programming Lego robots.
After her brother graduated, Selena was determined to follow in his footsteps and focus on a career in engineering. She is the first female Robotics Club president at Chandler High and also mentors other elementary robotics students every Saturday morning. She no longer works on Lego robots, having progressed to designing and programming mechanical robots. She’s competed in several robotics competitions and has been the glue that has held the team together when faced with seemingly insurmountable odds.
The Lego Robotics program has given Selena a new sense of purpose and direction. She understands that growing up in the barrio is no longer a poverty sentence and that someone’s opinion of her does not have to be her reality, but rather, something that she can use as a source of motivation to achieve greatness.
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