Yuridia Robeson

Yuridia Robeson

Yuridia Robeson defies gravity...

Yuridia RobesonHCF provides tools and inspiration for an aspiring scientist and engineer.

Yuridia is an HCF scholar who has been actively involved with the Hispanic College Fund since her freshman year in college. In 2007, she participated in the Hispanic Young Professionals program and was the keynote speaker at the gala. HCF has helped Yuridia pursue her dream of a college education.

University of Arizona senior Yuridia Robeson grew up in the small town of Douglas, Arizona, where the high school dropout and teen pregnancy rate are notoriously high. Instead of following the negative social trends in her hometown, she instead was inspired to make her mother proud by pursuing a college degree—a move that made her standout as a role model for her siblings and for the youth in her community.

At an early age, Yuridia realized the importance of having a college education and fully applying herself in school. Her single mother raised Yuridia and her six brothers and sisters while escaping the binds of an abusive relationship to provide a better future for her children. Relying on welfare and working part time while taking night classes, Yuridia’s mother struggled to acquire her B.A. and meet the needs of her family. Despite falling short of earning her degree, her mother continued to work hard to support her children. Instead of ever asking her children for financial support, Yuridia’s mother asked that they study hard in school and never give up on their dreams.

“The most valuable knowledge I gained from my mom was about the importance of education and the impact that it would have on the future stages of my life,” said Yuridia. “Seeing how strenuous it was for my mother to study, earn a living, and feed a family, I was determined to immediately get involved with activities at school and remain focused on my goal of attending college.”

A conversation she had with her college counselor prior to her freshman year changed her perspective about her personal expectations and her potential.

“I had only been planning for today, not for tomorrow or for five years into my future,” explains Yuridia. “I learned that I needed to get as much education as I could and that I should apply for any and all programs. Being awarded an HCF scholarship opened my eyes to various opportunities that I could pursue. Applying to HCF’s scholarships and learning I was a recipient gave me a lot of confidence. HCF gave me the tools and inspiration to apply and get accepted to other programs, such as the MIT Summer Research Program.”

In 2007, Yuridia was invited to attend the Hispanic Young Professionals Program in D.C., where she served as the keynote speaker at the 14th Annual Hispanic College Fund Scholarship Awards Gala.

Since then, Yuridia has participated in the Hispanic College Fund’s NASA Motivating Undergraduates in Science and Technology (MUST) Program and the NASA Reduced Gravity Student Flight Opportunities Program. She is currently a senior at the University of Arizona completing her degree in mechanical engineering. Her extracurricular activities include the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program, University of Arizona Engineering Ambassador Program, Einstein’s Protégés Program, Women in Science and Engineering, and All American Athletes Pima Community College Cross-Country and Track Team—to name a few. While balancing school and extracurriculars, she is also working at IBM and applying to graduate and PhD programs in the field of engineering, with a focus on robotics.

Within the next five years she aspires to become a university professor and a robotics researcher at a national laboratory.