Brenda GutierrezUndergraduate in electrical engineering
Why did you choose UT Dallas?
I met a high school teacher from Duncanville at a SkillsUSA national competition in Kansas. He was really impressed with how quickly I learned the materials for the competition, and he highly recommended UTD. I had never heard about the school before then. I was planning to go to community college for a couple of years and then go to a university, but UTD offered me a scholarship for full tuition and fees. Everything just fell in place for me, and I knew UTD was where I was supposed to be.
What’s great about studying here?
The environment and the people. If I had stayed in Houston, I would have been stuck in an environment that was just like high school. UTD has allowed me to find a group of friends who are as serious as I am about doing well. I want to succeed. There is always someone who wants to study with me before an exam. There is always someone willing to help if I am struggling or stressed.
What do you hope to do after graduation?
I am currently co-oping for Texas Instruments. I would like to get hired full time after graduation and then take graduate-level courses while I’m working. If I don’t get hired as a full-time employee, I will go straight into UTD’s master’s program.
What do you like most about student life at UTD?
There are plenty of helpful student organizations. I mainly got involved in the Society of Women Engineers. Because UTD is not a large school, it allowed be to be more active within these organizations, which offer training sessions that apply not only to school but also to the professional world. I remember coming into UTD and having to take a personality-assessment test, which said I was an introvert. Because of my involvement in these student organizations, when I retook the test my junior year, I was an extrovert. I helped with student recruiting, and had to talk in front of hundreds of potential UTD students. Before I got to UTD, I would never have done that.
