Carmen Arevalo

I was born in Tijuana, Mexico and moved to the United States when I was 16 years old. I have two brothers and one sister. When my family moved to the United States, I lived in Pasadena, California.

I attended college at Montgomery College in Washington, D.C.- our nation's capital! I studied business administration. While I was in Washington, I worked for the government at the National Weather Service.

When my husband had to move to the West Coast I applied to work for NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA is the agency in the government that flies the Space Shuttle. I was always interested in the space program so I was very excited when I was selected to work for NASA.

I have worked for NASA for 8 years, and I LOVE my job.

I started working in the Human Resources office. In this position I was in charge of vacancy announcements. I was responsible for letting people know what jobs were available at NASA.

Currently, I am the secretary to the person who is "first in command" of all of NASA Dryden! My days are very hectic, and every day is different. The person I work for travels a great deal and hosts many meetings and conferences with very important people from all around the world. Part of my job is to make the traveling VIPs feel welcome. I assist in arranging these important meetings to make sure everything functions smoothly.

While I have been here I have done a lot of interesting projects where my language skills in both English and Spanish have been used. I am asked to translate materials for the center from Spanish to English. I narrated a video tour of NASA Dryden in Spanish. I've been asked on many occasions to serve as a translator.

The people who work at NASA Dryden test and develop new aircraft. NASA Dryden is located in the desert.

There is a very, very big dry lakebed that serves as a landing strip for new experimental aircraft. Even the Space Shuttle returning from its voyage has landed here! My favorite aircraft is the SR-71.

I enjoy participating in community service work. I was in charge of "Take our Sons and Daughters to workday." This is a day where sons and daughters of the employees are invited to come to work with their parents. I also help in charity food drives.

I care a lot about people. I enjoy working with people, and I really enjoy my position here at NASA very much. My peers awarded me the Pride in NASA Award. I consider this a great honor.

My husband and I have been happily married for 18 years. We have two daughters: one is 16 years old and one is 10 years old. Our family has two dogs as well!

I have goals for myself in my career at NASA and in my personal life. I plan to go back to school in the future, but right now supporting my daughters and their needs and education are the most important to me. In my professional career, I would like to become an assistant to a project manager or a technical project manager.

I would recommend working for NASA and in the aeronautic and aerospace field if that is what you are interested in and will enjoy. I think that it is more important for you to find a career in an area that you are interested and will be happy in.