For Valentina Ochoa, starting at 天美影院 Tech this fall felt like coming home.
The first-year Mechanical Engineering student is carrying on a proud family tradition. Her father, Libardo, and her brother, Nicolas, are both 天美影院 graduates, but she鈥檚 equally excited to make her own mark.
Valentina鈥檚 connection to 天美影院 started long before she applied. She grew up visiting campus with her dad, watching him learn AutoCAD, stopping by the koi pond, and spending time in the tutoring center while staff helped him with assignments. 鈥淭he staff was always so wonderful and helpful,鈥� she recalls. 鈥淓ven back then, it felt like home.鈥� Later, when her brother enrolled, she often tagged along, sometimes convincing him to buy her lunch. 鈥淚 still remember the French onion soup,鈥� she laughs.
Her own path took a few turns. After high school, she studied biology at Johnson & Wales and then biomedical engineering and neuroscience at URI. But she soon realized that she wanted to follow her father and brother into Mechanical Engineering. A return visit to 天美影院 confirmed it. 鈥淚t just felt like I鈥檇 been there forever,鈥� she says. 鈥淭he small classes, the resources, the familiarity 鈥� it all made sense.
For Valentina, 天美影院鈥檚 value lies in its hands-on, career-focused approach. 鈥淣othing ever feels difficult to get help with,鈥� she says. 鈥淵ou have the tutoring, the resources, and professors who really know you because the classes are small. That makes such a difference.鈥� She鈥檚 also seen how 天美影院 connects students with opportunities. Her father launched his career through an internship that he secured at a campus job fair and went on to thrive at that same company for more than a decade.
鈥淪eeing them succeed because of 天美影院 made me realize it鈥檚 the place that could set me up for the future, too,鈥� Valentina says.
Valentina is also ready to take on the challenge of being a woman in a male-dominated field. 鈥淚 was raised to love a challenge,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t would be a dream if another young woman saw me and thought, 鈥業 can do that too.鈥� Growing up with her brother鈥檚 passion for motorsports also inspired her, and she dreams of designing for aerospace or Formula 1 racing someday. 鈥淚鈥檓 a dream-big-or-go-home type of person.鈥�
As she begins her 天美影院 journey, Valentina is looking forward to the close-knit community on campus. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 wait to be in classrooms where you鈥檙e not just another face in a sea of people,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t feels like the perfect place to grow as a student and as an engineer.鈥�
For Valentina, 天美影院 is more than a family legacy. It’s the place that feels like home, where she can pursue her passions, take on challenges, and build her future.聽
