SheTech Interns Interview Ashley Lujan

By Jasmine Aguilar

At the annual Women Tech awards, college students are recognized for their strides in the field of STEM. In a society where it's hard for young girls to be accepted into the STEM field, Ashley Lujan, one of the Women Tech Council Student Finalists has been committed and working hard on becoming a software engineer. We sat down with Lujan, a first generation college student and the youngest child of five to her immigrant Mexican parents. We wanted to learn how Lujan became the person she is today.

Ashley Lujan was introduced more about Computer Science her sophomore year at the University of Utah. She immediately resonated with this field and said to herself, “I wasn’t made for Computer Science. Computer Science was made for me.” She believed it was fate that had helped build on earlier developments in engineering and programming. All the things she cherished about STEM like her love for math and science came together in Computer Science. Lujan wants to be a software engineer and use codes in a new creative way in computer science.

At the University of Utah, Lujan currently works as an ambassador for students for the Utah Center for Inclusive Computing. She was also serving as a teaching assistant for the School of Computing at the Kahlert School of Computing. The Kahlert School blends theory and practice of Computer Science to equip students to succeed in an ever-changing job market.

In her sophomore year, Lujan took time off to focus on familial circumstances. Yet she remained committed to her goal of pursuing a career in software engineering. “I learned a valuable lesson of what it is to have hope and to have established a truth in yourself that you’re resilient,” said Lujan.

When she returned she was appointed as Chair of Community Outreach for the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers student chapter, the nation’s largest network for Hispanic students in STEM. In this role, Lujan organizes educational events, supports the organization’s mentor programs, and promotes networking opportunities for its members. While occasionally overwhelmed with the sheer number of meetings and events she attends, Lujan loves all her roles. It complements her goal of becoming a software developer, capable of creating code in imaginative ways. Lujan always enjoys learning new things and inventing new Computer Science methods.

Lujan is a hard working individual who inspires high school girls to develop resilience and reach for their goals no matter the obstacle. Lujan’s best advice to high school girls considering STEM is to resist feeling fear. “Fear will always exist between ourselves and our goals, but it shouldn’t be an inconvenience for our dreams,” says Lujan. “If you see fear as an inconvenience, then it really becomes something small."

TechBuzz welcomes the contributions from Jasmine Aguilar, a SheTech media intern and high school junior attending American Preparatory Academy in West Valley City, Utah.

Aguilar serves as a SheTech ambassador, attending Women Tech Council events and board meetings, including the recent ground-breaking Explorer Day 2024, which brought together 3,400 girls from over 100 schools across the state to work collectively on STEM projects and connect meaningfully with STEM mentors, interact with tech leaders from Utah's powerful tech sector, meet Utah legislators, and spend time Governor Spencer Cox, a big supporter of SheTech.

As part of the SheTech media internship, Aguilar interviews Utah tech leaders, including the 2023 Women Tech Award finalists and awardees.