Lucy Zurita is fascinated with anything that gives her a chance to build. From a young age, she has always enjoyed getting to tinker with objects.
She is currently president of Citrus’ Innovate X club, a robotics club, and is an engineering major. However, her path to STEM hasn’t always been easy.
She faces several challenges as an undocumented student. She does not receive the same opportunities as other students. This makes it harder for her to apply for internships and federal research programs, and described her experience as “battling against strong rapids.” She also said she feared that she would not be able to get a degree.
“It’s very frustrating when you don’t have people that see you as a human being,” Zurita said in a text message conversation.
However, she is blessed to have a good support system and finds comfort in her faith.
“God has my back at all times, so my fear and frustration is lessened by him during difficult times,” she said.
Zurita is ambitious and finds STEM as a positive outlet for her. In April, she founded Innovate X alongside architecture major Ghadah Alobaidi. Innovate X has helped her open many doors for herself and for other students in STEM.
“I want my club to be a tight-knit community of STEM students that feel identified and supported through their academic and personal growth journey. We were able to find enthusiastic people that support that vision.”
This semester, Innovate X is creating spider-like robots. Next semester, Zurita has a new vision for the club. She plans on having the club participate in a design challenge that will be based on a live scenario. She said the club is still debating on whether to make the project a game or a search and rescue simulation.
Furthermore, she plans to make a women in STEM event that will be set to take place next fall. She wants to help women like her explore all that STEM has to offer and achieve success in their field.
Zurita has big goals for her future outside of Citrus. She said she is working toward a bachelor’s degree in aerospace/mechanical engineering.
“I love building, designing and testing,” Zurita said.
She said she wishes to continue to create a positive space for others like her to achieve their dreams in the world of STEM.
