Turning dreams into reality

Escrito por: Carlos Sanchez 🇲🇽

Headshot of Luana Rojas Zurita. (Ashley Neyra)

Anybody can dream, but to get there, one has to put the work in. If you talk with Luana Rojas Zurita, she can tell you the same thing. Rojas Zurita was born and raised in Flores, Buenos Aires, a barrio in the capital of Argentina. She and her mom then settled in Silver Spring, Maryland.   

She believed that attending an Ivy League school would only bring happiness to people who had a long history of accomplishment, which only wealthy American children could achieve.

“I’ve always felt like that was not a false dream, but mostly I felt that was pushing on me in the sense that I can see it happening for other people but just not for me,” she said.

However, none of these preconceived notions stopped her from chasing her own dreams.

Rojas Zurita participated in numerous extracurricular activities in high school, including NASA competitions that centered on her developing passion for STEM. Deep down, she felt engineering was where she was meant to be.

Her path became even clearer once she got to Montgomery College (MC). She completed her associate's degree in aerospace engineering before transferring to UMD. During her time at MC, she had already begun to make an impact on others. 

During COVID, she ran the Latino Student Union (LSU) at MC Takoma Park. While it was challenging starting LSU during this time, she credits this as one of the many things that helped her find comunidad in higher education. Additionally, she remains involved with a dance group in Virginia that practices Caporales, a type of Peruvian and Bolivian folk dancing. 

Once her time at MC concluded, Rojas Zurita began the jarring transition to life at UMD. Her mother, much as throughout her life, remained one of her biggest supporters. “Yeah, that’s my bestie,” she remarked about her mother.

Not everything about coming to UMD was as easy. Going from the individualized learning experience at MC to UMD was challenging. She says faculty at MC don’t do research and are purely focused on teaching, so she had to learn to go to office hours, visit teaching assistants for help, and even learn how to stand up for herself when it comes to grades.

Family of Luana Rojas Zurita. (Courtesy of Luana Rojas Zurita)

Rojas Zurita also began to feel something many Latinas are familiar with: imposter syndrome and feeling alone as a Latina in STEM. 

Thankfully for Rojas Zurita, she had a comunidad of other people from MC who were also studying aerospace engineering. In this group, she was able to find support and comfort in her transition to UMD. All of this led her to not only become accepted into the A. James Clark School of Engineering but also allowed her to earn a full-ride merit scholarship to UMD. 

Rojas Zurita is flying, full speed ahead, to her postgraduate goals. She wants to work in robotics and automation and, in the future, may pursue graduate school.

“Aim for the stars-but I’ll still be proud if you land on the moon.” - Rojas Zurita’s mother