Yuma — Yuma, Arizona is a small city and many believe they need to go elsewhere to achieve their educational aspirations.
Sisters Daniela and Maria Villegas and engineers at the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground (YPG) prove that’s not always the case.
The sisters are able to attend community college and university in Yuma County, and both feel privileged to never leave town.
“We didn’t have to move to another city or pay rent,” Maria explains. “Not everyone has the means to do that. It’s been great for us. It’s been a great option.”
“We want to be close to our family, stay close to them and see them often,” Daniela said.
The sisters, who are 14 months apart in age, spent their childhood in Mexico before moving to San Luis, Arizona, a small border region south of Yuma. From an early age, their father devoted himself to teaching them mathematics.
“I remember him buying us a little board and markers and putting them in our room. I did,” Maria recalls.
It instilled a foundation in their understanding of mathematics and helped them excel in subjects that were the gateway to engineering.
“I think that’s what we really love about the subject because engineering uses a lot of math,” Maria said.
By the time my sister Maria entered high school, I was interested in industrial engineering and decided to focus on systems engineering. Daniela was initially interested in architecture, but she soon stumbled upon the idea of engineering.
Maria and Daniela were able to take most of their engineering classes together at Arizona Western College and the University of Arizona-Yuma.
“Being a college student can be overwhelming because you spend most of your time doing homework, studying, and preparing yourself,” said Daniela.
“She was like my roommate who was going through the same thing I was going through,” Maria added.
The sisters have degrees in systems engineering from the University of Arizona, Yuma, and work as engineers in the YPG’s instrumentation division. Both work in her branch of Engineering Support. Daniela is the optics and Maria is the tracking radar section.
The Villegas sisters want to inspire other students to overcome obstacles and pursue their own paths.
Daniela says. I know it’s going to be hard, I know it’s a struggle. But don’t give up. do your best. In the end it will be really worth it. ”
Maria advises: It will get harder, but it won’t get much harder. ”