Originally I am from El Monte, California but have moved around a lot as a child. Ultimately, I have always ended up back in El Monte somehow someway. I am a first generation American, my parents came to this country from Guatemala in the late 1980's. At the age of 14 I was given my first laptop and this is where my journey started. Unfortunately I did not have internet to use with the laptop at home but I would frequently make trips to other family member's houses and even school to research ways to access internet. This led me down the penetrating testing field or as more people would know it, hacking. I was able to get into a neighbor's WiFi from what I learned. This small accomplishment peaked my interest for computers that would last a lifetime. At the age of 19 I joined the US Army, completing six years of active duty service with deployments to Iraq and Syria. During my time in the military I would constantly be researching different programing languages. It was during my last year of my military service when I found a new passion that is Data Science. In 2021 I was discharged from the Army and immediately started school at Pasadena City College. I am currently studying Computer Science with hopes to double major in Data Science also.

SCEC Participation

SCEC Intern (2022)