​​Born and raised in Brazil, Thayara Almeida moved to the U.S. at the age of 23. She learned English by figuring out the language on her own. As a first-generation student, she lives with guilt associated with leaving her parents, brother and extended family behind to pursue higher education, and she struggles with bills and school assignments. But these challenges also have contributed greatly to her growth.

Thayara is a senior civil engineering student at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Her volunteering in Guatemala on a water-systems project, completing an internship at a Santa Cruz civil engineering firm and working as a project engineer for a construction firm have solidified Thayara’s civil engineering aspirations.

She looks forward to focusing her interests, discovering opportunities in her field and becoming a professional engineer. Her goal is to design sustainable projects.