savannah sanchez

New Mexico Highlands University (NMHU) Student

Pursuing a Bachelor of Science,  Biology 

Will graduate in May

Tell us what experiences influenced you to pursue a STEM career?

One of the most striking experiences that influenced me to pursue a STEM career happened when I was about 12 years old. My grandfather suffered a heart attack. Very clearly, I remember being waken up in the middle of the night by my mother and shortly after rushing in our cars to the UNM Hospital in Albuquerque, following the helicopter located directly above our car in which was my grandfather. Following the triple-bypass heart surgery, I was woken up again, and this time in the lobby of the UNM Hospital, surrounded by my sleeping family, where I saw my grandfather in the distance in a lit hallway. The first thing he told me when he saw me as I woke up was, “Van, (which is my nickname to my family) you should’ve seen the way these doctors fixed me up and fixed my heart. You need to be one of these doctors”. This was one experience that has stayed with me since it happened, and I couldn’t help but think that I just wanted to be one of those people, whether that be a doctor or not. I just knew that I wanted to be able to help people in any way I possibly could. Science allows me to do exactly that every single day.

Tell us about your college experiences (triumphs, and challenges)?

One of the biggest challenges and triumphs that I have faced in my college experience was my general chemistry 1 class. I came from a small high school in Las Vegas, New Mexico, where chemistry either wasn’t offered or just wasn’t pushed for students to take as a core class, so you can imagine when I stepped foot in my first general chemistry class freshman year I was in for a surprise. I went to all the classes, all the labs, did all the homework, and simply just did not get it. I talked with the professor and worked out problem after problem with him, but I was either failing or near-failing exam after exam. I had no scholarships, so what was the point of staying in college? I figured maybe, “this just isn’t for me.” I completed all the work and worked as hard as I could on the final exam. I was semi-confident in nearly every other class except for this one, but if I happened to fail, then, I know I wouldn’t be eligible for any scholarships or help from financial aid the following semester, which would bring over a huge financial burden to cloud myself and my family, so I started looking for a “plan B,” which happened to be to enlist in the Army. One day before the semester was over, I was called into my chemistry professors office, where he presented to me my final grade for the class. That final grade ended up being a “C-,” which meant I would be eligible for the New Mexico Lottery Scholarship the following semester, as long as I passed all the other classes. That scholarship would pay nearly all of my tuition, allow me to repay my loan from the previous semester, and present me the opportunity to continue on to another semester in my undergrad. That C- was the start of a whole new student, and person, with a completely different perspective on life.

What’s one STEM project that you worked on that you were passionate about?

One STEM project I worked on that I was very passionate about was part of an internship I did with the Rio Mora National Wildlife Refuge. We built one rock dams. One rock dams are single layer rock structures that are built in the bed of a channel to act as a water and sediment capture system. One rock dams stabilize the channel bed by slowing down the flow of water and capturing sediment. In turn, they recruit vegetation and eventually raise the channel bottom to where the rocks were placed. One of the reasons as to why I was so passionate about building these one rock dams is because here in New Mexico our soils have been highly degraded as a consequence of uncontrolled land uses such as overgrazing or pollution, where the soils top layer becomes hardened; therefore, any precipitation that we receive runs right off the soil. Not to mention, we have also been dealing with drought for the past several years. One rock dams are an extremely efficient way to slow the running water and retain it, The softened hard top layer of soil allows the water so sink in, and this helps to retain as much water as we can within New Mexico’s borders.

What does self-care look like to you?  Is it free time, hobbies, and/or interests?

To me, self-care looks like making time for myself during my busy days. It is very rare for me to have a day off, so it is very important to be able to spend a few hours alone without thinking about everything I need to do. I do self-care in a variety of ways. I enjoy working out and cooking a nice meal the most for sure. At the end of the day, those “little things” that you do for yourself are what truly count.

What is one piece of practical advice you would give to a middle school student wanting to pursue a STEM Career?

One piece of practical advice that I would give to a middle school student wanting to pursue a STEM career is that you WILL face challenges in your STEM career. Those challenges will not make or break you, but they WILL strengthen you.