秋葵视频

As a ni帽a, 秋葵视频 mechanical engineering major Ana Abadie and her father spent hours watching airplanes taxi, take off and land at Toncont铆n International Airport located in Tegucigalpa, her hometown and the Honduran capital. 

鈥淭he airport is near the highway so we would park right outside the runway and they would fly by really close to us,鈥� Abadie remembered. 鈥淲henever I saw them I always wondered how they worked and I was mesmerized by how big they were.鈥� 

There, with her papi at her side, her imagination took flight.

At home, they constructed model airplanes together.

鈥淲e would make these big planes and I really, really liked it,鈥� she emphasized. 

Abadie excelled in a Honduran bilingual school from kindergarten through high school. She knew she鈥檇 one day study engineering, with an eye on the aerospace industry. The plan not only cradled the wonder of her childhood, but also carried forward the long-held wish of her abuelo.

鈥淢y grandfather was an engineer and he always wanted one of his kids to become an engineer,鈥� Abadie explained. 鈥淎nd unfortunately, none of them did. So I had that interest for engineering and I also thought about it as if I鈥檓 accomplishing his dreams of having another engineer in the family.鈥� 

When it was time to choose a program, Abadie honed in on Georgia Southern. Representatives from the University鈥檚 Office of International Programs visited her high school periodically and a number of her friends who attended the University shared stories of a diverse environment with open-ended opportunities.

鈥淚 know a lot of people who have come to Georgia Southern from my school and I鈥檝e always had the impression that this school is very welcoming, especially for international students,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou get so many opportunities for professional development. And that really made me decide to come here.鈥�

Today, Abadie is a junior on the Statesboro Campus who was awarded a $25,500 Women in Technology (WIT) Connect Campus Scholarship, presented by corporate and tech giants like State Farm, Coca-Cola and Splunk, earlier this year. It鈥檚 the organization鈥檚 largest scholarship to date.

A go-getter since arriving on the Statesboro Campus in 2019, Abadie immediately joined numerous organizations on campus, including the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Google Developers Student Club and WIT, a global organization that empowers girls and women to excel in science, technology, engineering, the arts and math (STEAM).

鈥淏ecause of WIT, I鈥檝e had a lot of opportunities for professional development and personal growth,鈥� said Abadie. 鈥淚鈥檝e had so many connections with the faculty here because of that organization. It鈥檚 something that I really encourage every single female in the STEAM industry to join. I鈥檝e had so many good experiences, I鈥檓 speechless.鈥� 

The highly competitive WIT scholarship award arrived on the heels of two dedicated years as a student consecutively recognized on the President鈥檚 List for excellence in academics. She also served as the WIT secretary and sponsorship liaison for Southern Hacks, which presents an annual, three-day Hackathon for students to solve coding problems, attend curated workshops and network with industry professionals. This year, she is excited to serve as the lead organizer for the group. 

In addition, she and a group of her peers recently launched the University鈥檚 first chapter of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE), the nation鈥檚 largest association dedicated to fostering Hispanic leadership in the STEM field with training, mentorship and programming. 

鈥淭hat鈥檚 something we鈥檙e really looking forward to this semester because we just opened it,鈥� said Abadie. 鈥淭hat will be an important thing this fall.鈥�

With roughly 30 members already in place, the goal is to grow membership and attend the SHPE national conference in Florida in November. 

鈥淭hat conference has a lot to do with networking,鈥� said Abadie. 鈥淎s Hispanic students, it鈥檚 harder for us to get jobs, especially in the STEM industry, because we鈥檙e not citizens. Companies that hire us have to be willing to sponsor us and a lot don鈥檛 want to. The conference is a good way to make it through and get a lot more opportunities. Every single company that goes to that conference is aware that there are international students so they do offer those types of opportunities. That鈥檚 what I鈥檓 really looking forward to.鈥� 

Space exploration remains the pinnacle for Abadie. Yet, for now, she鈥檚 excited to fine-tune her interests and discover which industry sector most propels her.

鈥淢y dream job would be working at NASA or SpaceX,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檝e always had that dream since I was a kid. I know that I really like the subject but I want to find a specific subject I鈥檓 passionate about and go from there. I really do believe I鈥檓 a hard worker so anything I put my mind to I always try to succeed. 

鈥淚 want to make my family proud. I want to give back to them every single thing they鈥檝e given to me so far and make them proud.鈥�