Hi, I'm Sophia Munoz.

Being the first in my family to go to an American college was daunting because I didn't know what to expect. I am a fairly shy person but I have been working on being more outgoing in the past couple of years. So I heavily leaned into introducing myself to people, especially in classes that required group work.

I understand why ENED is an unlikable course but I believe it is beneficial when introducing you to soft skills that can not only be used in a professional environment but an academic one too. And I can't lie, learning about VBA saves me from the worry about learning it during my upcoming co-op this fall. ENED helped me expand my communication, leadership skills, and programming experience.

Through trials and tribulations, I programmed the robots and led the team through the ENED projects. Applying the project management skills from my previous summer internship helped a ton. For object-oriented programming, the learning-curve wasn't too steep but once I fully understood the concept, programming the robot was pretty easy. The programming languages/software I've learned so far are MATLAB, LabVIEW, Python, C++, and VBA Macros.

I also joined a couple of clubs/student organizations that interested me. At the rocketry club, not only have I been able to learn more about spaceships and NASA, I also got to build a rocket.​ And at UC's Robotics Team, I learned about ROS2 using Linux and programmed LED lights using Arduino. The point that has stuck with me through all these activities is that most of the time, researching is necessary when I don't understand certain stuff. For example, I had no clue what Arduino was but when I was tasked with programming the LED lights I googled the necessary info when I got stuck. Along the way, I expanded my knowledge that I can potentially apply in the future.

Lastly, I spent the whole year volunteering for my community. Most of it is focused on encouraging CPS students to be inspired by STEM. But some of it has also been cleaning up parks or clearing plots of land for homeless shelters. What I enjoy is being able to make an impact on the local level and making new friends along the way. In the Society of Hispanic Engineers (SHPE), we organize activities for high schoolers that also puts the team in a position to have newcomers have a hand at planning an event.

In general, prioritizing learning new things and not being afraid to take risks has helped me develop my social skills and technical skills. I really enjoyed my first year at UC and can't wait for more adventures.

For my first co-op rotation, I worked at BMW Manufacturing at Plant Spartanburg located in Greer, South Carolina. That meant that I would have to move…again. Which I'm not unfamiliar with but I would have to move away from my family, in a different state, with roommates. I wasn't very thrilled with the prospect of the situation, but BMW was a great opportunity to expand my professional skills and network.

With the impending dread at the back of my mind, it was very difficult for me to enjoy the rest of my summer. As the fall semester rolled around the corner, my anxiety surrounding me moving out increased rapidly. There were moments on my drive down south that eased my nerves, especially seeing the beautiful smoky mountains.

Once I moved into the house I'd be living in for the next 5 months and went to the first day of work, I realized that it could be possible that I enjoyed my time in South Carolina if I worked on networking and attending the unrequired intern events. This was unlike my first internship experience where I skipped all those steps and didn't get to know other interns in my program.

This time around I made sure to put myself into an introvert's nightmare situations. Throughout these intern events I was able to meet various people who were in different departments at the plant. This way I expanded my knowledge and network throughout the plant. I also met interns that allowed me to shadow them for a day to see what they did.

By getting to know these interns and making the effort to take the 15 minute walk to the cafeteria. I was able to form great friendships. As my weekdays became more occupied, time went by faster. There were outings we planned on weekends that had us road tripping across South and North Carolina. We also went hiking and visited beautiful mountains which looked beautiful as the leaves were already changing color.

From these involvements, I had a great first co-op rotation experience. I expanded my professional skills and networking/social skills. The networking being a key factor to my success, is something that I will continue to build upon to put myself in a position where I could see myself staying at BMW or start putting in the work to find a co-op at another company of my interest.

For starters, during the Fall semester, I was able to volunteer for a variety of different organizations. I was able to volunteer for Hispanic Volunteer Day with Latinx en Accion (LEA) at Roberts Academy. I got to work on clearing a park nearby and got to meet many new friends. I also had the opportunity to volunteer for iSpace Day and Fall Reading Day of Service at the Civic Garden Center. It was nice to volunteer again and contribute to the local community as it is something that has been ingrained in me at a young age.

That being said, I probably had the best semester of school up to this point. All the classes were interesting and still being able to be involved in student organizations is a nice plus. I was able to really dedicate myself to my studies and I made it onto the Dean’s List. Which became a nice incentive for me to continue studying just as hard.

As for co-ops, my appreciation for the program has only grown. I have been able to build real lasting friendships with people from across the country and internationally. Working for BMW for my second rotation was really fun. While the ridiculously hot and humid weather did wonders on my car, getting to go to Charleston with friends to explore the city and the beach was a nice addition to working in South Carolina. The work I was able to do was just as substantial and key in expanding my knowledge of automotive manufacturing.

For my third co-op rotation, I decided to make a change. I worked at Chamberlain Group in Chicago as a Computer Science Co-op. This was more aligned to my interests. I was able to work at a company where as interns, we were given the opportunity to contribute creatively and innovatively to the company. I got to work with other interns, who happened to also be from the UC. But it introduced a new challenge. The other interns, apart from one other who is an electrical engineer, were DAAP students in Industrial Design and UI/UX.

This presented an opportunity for me to work with people outside of engineering. Which was exciting and intimidating at the same time. The project presented to us to work on meant creating a product from scratch and taking all the necessary steps to properly develop the product idea. This meant that I got to research, plan, and implement the product alongside the others. Working with Industrial Designers and UI/UX meant that they were able to challenge me with their ideas when I had to make it a reality when programming it. I also learned how to program with Kotlin for Android apps. I feel like this co-op really pushed me to be a better programmer and collaborator, which I am grateful for.

First of all, I had a semester of summer classes and I was able to get on the Dean's List for the second time. Classes felt like a breeze. During that time I was applying to many companies and ended up interviewing with three and received offers from all of the organizations. The issue was that I needed to decide between the three.One would have been a co-op where I didn't have to move and the pay was decent. The other was located in Austin, Texas and had higher pay but wasn't technical at all. The final option I had was an offer from NASA at Kennedy Space Center.

The catch was that this was the lowest paid internship and it was an untaxed stipend. So I would have to be very frugal on my end, to be able to pay for the following semester of classes, rent, food, and taxes. The thing is, it is quite difficult to say no to NASA. I decided to bite the bullet and accept the offer. This internship would be the farthest away from home that I would be working and I would be living right next to the beach (which is quite weird to be honest).

During my internship I learned a lot about Software Development in Python. I got to automate various scripts that dealt with flight-critical system data and it put into perspective the importance of security considerations and testing when coding.

I truly got to develop my programming skills through contributions to existing programs that will be implemented for Artemis III and IV. Apart from the work itself, I got the privilege to see many rocket launches and tour various parts of Kennedy Space Center, including the Launch Control Center and Launch Complexes.

As for my Spring semester. I could tell you with 100% confidence that it was the most stressful and most difficult semester yet. Funnily enough, I only took four courses and it was the least amount of credits I've taken so far in my college career. These courses challenged me to a great extent (especially Theory of Formal Languages and Automata). It also didn't help that I was back to the job application process for my final co-op. Thankfully I didn't have to worry too much about that as I got an offer at the end of January.

Even though this previous semester was the most difficult, I am still grateful that these courses pushed me to be a better student. Reading, critically thinking, and organizing my time was an essential part that I had to improve to pass all my classes with decent grades. The toughness of the classes just makes me prouder that I was able to do well in them.