At age 12, I signed myself up for online astronomy classes under my mom's name. 14 years later I became the first Mexican-born woman to go to space.

• Katya Echazarreta became the first Mexican-born woman to go to space in June 2022.
• Echazarreta struggled to fit in when her family immigrated to California when she was 7 years old.
• But her passion for engineering and space propelled her forward, and she landed her dream job at NASA.

This is an as-told-to essay based on a conversation with Katya Echazarreta, a 28-year-old Mexican electrical engineer and citizen astronaut. She became the first Mexican-born woman to go to space in 2022. The essay has been edited for length and clarity.