Breaking Into STEM: Lessons From Two STEM Leaders
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During a recent STEM Next Career Chat, teens from across the country heard firsthand how careers in chemistry, engineering and technology take shape, and how rarely those paths unfold exactly as planned.
Moderated by STEM Next Flight Crew member Madeline, a teen from Missouri interested in pursuing biochemistry and medicine, the conversation featured two leaders working across STEM industries. The panel included Elizabeth Contreras, a senior scientist at Aramco Americas with 25 patents to her name, and Mira Velasco, a manager and senior printed wire board designer at Qualcomm. Both are first-generation college graduates who built careers in fields they never originally imagined.
They shared how their journeys evolved, the skills they rely on every day and what today’s students can do to prepare for the future.
From Everyday Curiosity to a STEM Career
For both panelists, the spark didn’t come from a formal program; it came from everyday curiosity.
Elizabeth, who grew up without access to afterschool STEM activities, traces her interest in chemistry back to baking with her mother. “I didn’t realize that baking was chemistry, but you’re mixing ingredients together, seeing the effects of what temperature does to a cake,” she said. “That’s the basis of curiosity and how you can make changes, just being at home.”
For Mira, it was building with blocks. Building something with her own hands gave her a sense of accomplishment that she wanted to chase professionally. “I want to do something that, when I see it outside, I can say, ‘I did that’,” she said. That feeling eventually led her to aerospace engineering and later to designing the circuit connections inside some of the world’s most advanced technology at Qualcomm.
Today, Elizabeth develops new materials for cementing in the energy industry, applying techniques she first learned while working on cancer treatments using gold nanoparticles.
Finding Your Path, Even When It’s Challenged
Neither panelist arrived at her career without obstacles, and both said those obstacles became part of the story.
Mira’s turning point came in high school, when a teacher singled her out in front of the class. After asking students to leave the room based on their intended careers, he looked at Mira and told her she didn’t look like an engineer. That moment ignited a drive to prove the doubters wrong that she still carries today.
“It doesn’t matter how you look, how you dress, how you sound, you can find your way into STEM,” she said. “Find it and love it. Find your passion without paying attention to the stereotypes.”
Elizabeth’s path shifted more quietly but no less meaningfully. Originally set on becoming a doctor, she spent four years studying Latin in high school to prepare for medical school, only to have a professor open her eyes to another possibility.
“Developing medicines in research is probably going to allow you to tell doctors what to do,” he told her. “Maybe that’s a better path.” She went on to earn a doctorate in chemistry.
Building Skills That Last
The panelists were clear that technical knowledge alone doesn’t build a career. The skills that carry professionals forward, and that students can start building right now, include public speaking, writing, reading widely and asking questions.
“You can be the smartest one in the room, but if you cannot show that you’re the smartest one in the room, it kind of loses the value of that,” Mira said.
Elizabeth offered a piece of advice she lives by herself: “There’s a saying in science that an hour in the library is worth three days in the lab, because sometimes you can find a lot of solutions that other people have already written about.”
Reading outside your own field matters too. “You have to go beyond just chemistry into biochemistry, physics, and engineering, so you can start applying different topics to your own research,” she said.
Both panelists encouraged students not to give up when a subject feels hard. “These classes are kind of like going to the gym for your brain,” Mira said. “You’re training your brain to see these anomalies, to see these patterns.”
Elizabeth added that taking a tough course in high school, even without mastering it, pays off later. “When you see calculus and physics again in college, it’ll be more familiar, and you’ll feel better about it.”
A Future Full of Possibility
Throughout the session, students asked thoughtful questions about internships, mentors and how to navigate a STEM career when the path isn’t clear.
On internships, Elizabeth encouraged students to start applying before the holidays and to look beyond the obvious. “Every summer, take an opportunity to go somewhere,” she said, describing how an internship in New York opened up her world as someone who had never traveled far from home.
Mira added that internships are as much about self-discovery as career building. “You might learn not just about the job, but also about yourself and whether it’s a good match for you. It’s okay to pivot.”
And on what drives them forward, both said the same thing: people. Mira’s current goal is to develop her team, learning what makes each person tick and helping them reach their full potential. Elizabeth said the most rewarding moments of her career have come from watching summer interns leave ready to take on the world.
“That’s very rewarding,” she said. “I look forward to giving back to the community in that way.”
For the teens tuning in, the message was consistent: with curiosity, resilience and drive, the possibilities are wide open in STEM careers.
The post Breaking Into STEM: Lessons From Two STEM Leaders appeared first on STEM Next.
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