Welcome to My Journey

Valeria Salazar recounts her experiences crossing the US/Mexico border to attend school in San Diego-a journey that took nearly three hours every day .Since Salazar's essay was published, increasing numbers of students in San Diego and other US cities near the southern border have been traveling in the opposite direction .They attend The Center for Technical and Higher Education (CETYS University) in cities like Tijuana where they can earn degrees at a lower cost .Valeria began working as a Systems Engineer at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA in August 2019 .She is still taking steps to achieve her goal of becoming an astronaut .Recently re-reading her essay "reminded [her] of the importance of looking back, reflecting, and using that as inspiration to keep propelling forward ."She explains that as "students read this essay, I'd like to tell them to reach for their dreams and to always enjoy the journey ."REFLECTIVE MEMO: This assignment was one of my favorite ones of this class .English is my second language, and writing has always been challenging for me .Through this essay I was able to express myself by sharing a defining moment of my life, allowing me to step out of my comfort zone and grow as a writer .