When I was in elementary and in high school and asked for guidance from my teachers on what it would take for a girl like me to pursue a career in the Sciences, all of them closed their doors on me, cited that I was “beyond repair” and was “a waste of a person”, so as for them to consider sparing some of their time to help me out in any capacity. It was thanks to them that I learned the value of self-reliance early on in my journey. Eventually, I found myself in places that I could only dream of, and within the company of people who sincerely cared about and believed in me. That’s what made all the difference in my life today.

To my dear father, the Almighty God, all my friends, Marc, my Civil Air Patrol family, my San José State University professors, my mentor at the Air Force Institute of Technology, my cousins, and to ordinary people I met during my day-to-day life who showed me kindness no matter how small, and to anyone who played some kind of significant role in my life from the time I first set foot in the United States (even if you weren’t meant to stay as a permanence in my life), I’d like to send a profound Thank You to all of you, from the bottom of my heart. Last but certainly not the least, a very heartfelt thank you goes to my beloved partner, Wolfgang, for finally filling a void in my life.

I wouldn’t have made it this far without the love and support of each one of you.