IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 7

It was the summer of 1994 in California's San Fernando Valley. Cadena
was 13, about to enter high school. Her
family had left Mexico in the early 1980s
when she was just a year old. Her mother had a second grade education, and her
father had a high school diploma. Both
worked in factories.
It was her mother's idea that Cadena
spend the summer as an unpaid intern
at the bungee cord factory where her parents both worked. For eight hours a day,
Cadena sat at a table and inserted hooks
into elastic cords. A bell rang when it
was time for lunch and again when it was
time for a break. Working alongside her
mother was the hardest part.
"I hated the experience at the time,"
Cadena says. "I realize now that it was
her way of very clearly and tangibly
demonstrating what my life would be
like if I didn't pursue a college degree.
The window into her world was revealing and a key drive in making me pursue
a college education."
Even with that eye opener, it was not
easy. At the age of 16, Cadena became
pregnant. Her college plans seemed to
be unraveling. Still, she was so gifted in
math and science that a visiting alum
pulled her from class and encouraged her
to apply to his college, MIT. Reluctantly,
Cadena applied.
A year later, when she moved across
the country to Cambridge, Massachusetts, with her one-year-old daughter, it
was her first time ever living away from
home. To this day, Cadena calls this the
most difficult and empowering thing she
has ever done.
Cadena stayed active at MIT. When
she met Salazar in 2010, she would recognize in her that same quality of perseverance and would be instrumental in
bringing Salazar to Boeing through its
internship program.
Salazar's family, like Cadena's, immigrated to the United States from Mexico
in search of a better life. They settled in
the Boyle Heights community of East
Los Angeles, which is still today, Salazar
says, "a low-income, troubled area known
for low performance in education." Yet,
from a young age, her parents instilled
in her not just the value of good grades

High-touch
High-impact

DeCEMBER 2014

iEEE women in engineering magazine

7



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014

IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - Cover1
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - Cover2
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 1
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 2
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 3
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 4
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 5
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 6
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 7
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 8
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 9
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 10
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 11
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 12
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 13
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 14
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 15
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 16
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 17
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 18
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 19
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 20
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 21
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 22
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 23
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 24
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 25
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 26
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 27
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 28
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 29
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 30
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 31
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 32
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 33
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 34
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 35
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 36
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 37
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 38
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 39
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 40
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 41
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 42
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 43
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 44
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 45
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 46
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 47
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 48
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 49
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 50
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 51
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 52
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 53
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 54
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 55
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 56
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - Cover3
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - Cover4
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