Meet Johana Aguero-Fischer

Alumni Profile – Johana Aguero-Fischer

Johana Aguero-Fischer毕业于beta365社区学院，获得工程副学士学位，然后转学到弗吉尼亚理工大学. She’ll be graduating in Spring 2023 with a job already lined up at Boeing.

Listen to the podcast below, Voices of Reynolds, or read the transcript here.

Podcast: Voices of Reynolds

Welcome to Voices of Reynolds. This is Marianne McGhee and Voices of Reynolds 庆祝学院建校50周年，我们是beta365红鹰队，大家知道吗. Our students really have what it takes to fly, and I mean that quite literally about our alumni guest today. 约翰娜·阿奎罗-菲舍尔在返回弗吉尼亚理工大学的路上，好心地在帕勒姆路校区停了一下.

Reynolds: Johana, welcome and thank you so much for being here. We are delighted to have you back. Now, remind me when you graduated?

Johana: When I graduated from Reynolds? The summer of 2019.

Reynolds: 2019. OK, so you've been at Tech since then and you know, 每个完成学位的学生都很兴奋，因为他们可以利用在beta365学到的知识找到第一份真正的工作. You absolutely learned a lot. In fact, you're still learning. 你是弗吉尼亚理工大学的学生，你将于2023年5月毕业，对吗?

Johana: Correct.

Reynolds: But this is what's really exciting, 因为过一会儿我要问你，你将在哪里开始工作. But let's save that for just a second. Let's start with what you were studying and why you decided to study it?

Johana我一直想在太空做点什么，所以我开始在beta365公司学习机械工程. 我在这里获得了副学士学位，所以我知道我可以把它转到弗吉尼亚理工大学获得航空航天工程学士学位. That’s where I currently am. I'm a senior there and I've been working since 2020. I've been working for Navair which is the Naval Air. I've been working on military aircraft for the last two-and-a-half years.

Reynolds: What kind of work have you been doing on military aircraft?

Johana: My branch is called Flight Dynamics. We problem solve a lot for aircraft performance. I can't give too many details. I do have a secret clearance for working there. 但我们在飞机上做了很多工作，我们帮助他们通过联邦航空局的认证.

Reynolds: I just wish everybody could hear Joanna, just casually saying that she has security clearance with these aircrafts. She's very casual about it. That is extraordinary. 如果我没弄错的话，你即将迎来另一个激动人心的机会. Tell us about that.

Johana今年夏天，我有机会参加了AIAA航空与航空论坛(AIAA Aviation Forum)。, which was an aviation conference back in July. 这让我有机会在航空业遇到几个不同的雇主，我得到了几个工作机会. 我决定去波音公司，所以我一毕业就会开始在波音公司工作.

Reynolds: Johana are you just wildly excited about that? We're so excited for you! How do you feel about that?

Johana当我开始收到所有的工作邀请时，我的眼泪都流下来了，因为我一直以来的努力终于得到了回报. I'm starting to see it! 我想在某些时候，很多学生都会经历所谓的冒名顶替综合症, where you feel like you're not good enough or you don't belong. So, just meeting those employers, 面对面地和他们交谈，并得到他们的反馈, really made me feel like it was all worth it. And I do belong there. That is where I belong.

Reynolds: You absolutely belong there. And that sense of belonging is so important to us here at Reynolds. Let's talk a little bit about that. What made you decide to choose Reynolds? 让我们回到几年前，当你在为高等教育做一个重大决定的时候?

Johana: I am a non-traditional student. I am married with a son who is now 10 years old. But back then, when I started at Reynolds, he was about three. 我18-19岁的时候还没有完成大学学业，那时候我付不起学费. But I decided because of my son, I'm going to go back to school. I'm going to do it. 如果我必须离开他，那应该是为了我喜欢做的事. And I've always wanted to get into space. I just never had enough push to do it or thought I was capable enough. But when I came to Reynolds and I took a placement test, I guess I didn't anticipate for it to be as hard as it was. But I had to start from scratch — like from the beginning — mathematics. Because I was out of school for so long. But I did it. I didn't question it. I said, “You know what this is — What it's going to take. I'm going to do it!”

Reynolds provided me the opportunity to do that. 我感到非常幸运，我在beta365遇到了一些很棒的老师，他们帮助我度过了难关. They had patience with me. They met with me after class and before class to help me out. And that makes really, 所有的不同——那些真正帮助你到达终点的老师.

Reynolds: Absolutely! We've heard things from our alumni, 我要举一个具体的例子，一个学生最终在弗吉尼亚理工大学学习工程学, who say things like, “I was really nervous. 我想从社区大学毕业，我现在在理工学院，我该怎么做呢?” He did beautifully! 他表现得很好，并说他觉得自己准备好了，因为他在beta365的经历. What was that like for you when you transitioned to Tech?

Johana我的第一个学期的过渡——我有点不知所措，因为课程太多了. 我从来没有同时上过那么多课，因为我家里有家人. I always juggled my schedule with my son’s schedule. 当我去beta365时，我是兼职的，这很好，因为beta365提供了灵活性.

Virginia Tech is a whole different story. It's like you must be going full time. So, the first semester I was pushed to take five classes. That was a little overwhelming, to say the least. But it was nothing that I couldn't do. 我记得在beta365的时候，为了完成工作和学习，我不得不牺牲睡眠. 我认为，因为我必须平衡我儿子的日程安排，这促使我做得更好. At Virginia Tech, the transition was fine. It went smoothly. I was just focused on doing the best that I could in my classes.

Reynolds: Absolutely, yes indeed! 如果我没记错的话，你在这里的时候参加过NASA学者项目吗.

Johana: Correct.

Reynolds: Tell us what your experience was like at Reynolds.

Johana: In 2016, I completed a program over the summer or the fall. 我真的很兴奋，因为即使是在社区大学，我也觉得我真的需要更多地接触工业, aviation, space, anything I could get my hands in. 任何为学生提供的免费服务——任何我能进入的机会. So, I kept looking online. I searched and I found the NASA program. 这很棒，因为他们刚刚在NASA启动了一个项目，试图让学生们对进入这个行业感到兴奋. So, I started that. It was an online program. 但如果你提供了出色的内容并在项目中取得了成功，你就会被选中参加肯尼迪航天中心的现场比赛. I was one of 15 out of 400 total that were selected.

Reynolds: Oh, my goodness! I did not know that piece. That is extraordinary.

Johana: It was very exciting. It was a very emotional moment for me when I finally got there. I was like, “Oh my gosh! It's finally happening!”

Reynolds约翰娜，我对你的记忆之一是你是我们第一批优等生. I feel like this is one of the wonderful things about students generally. But I feel like our non-traditional students, in particular, are so serious about taking advantage of every opportunity. They are sacrificing family-time. They're sacrificing work hours, and so often, they’re trying to get there on their own dime, to some degree. I mean they're doing it along with financial aid and scholarships, but it's still out of the family pocketbook. I have so much respect for people who say, “I'm going to do this!” and come back. Because it's not a little thing.

你会给那些想知道“我能做这个吗??” What helped you get through? What advice would you share?

Johana我下定决心要做这件事，一开始我有一些疑虑，因为我害怕离开我的儿子, which is why I had started school. When he was three, 我可以把他送到幼儿园，因为我觉得把他交给保姆照顾不太合适. 也是在这段时间里，我丈夫也没有学位. 我们在挣扎，我知道为了我的家庭，我必须挺过去. I had to get us into a better spot, a better situation. 我不希望这种情况伴随我儿子的一生——我留给他的遗产就是奋斗. I'm a first-generation college grad. To me, this means so much because I was able to break the cycle.

I guess the advice I would give students is, it's not impossible. You're the only one who stands in your own way. I know many people think, “Well, what about the cost? What am I going to do? How am I going to pay for it?” It will work out if you truly are determined. You'll find your way. You just have to be able to think it, say it, and do it!

Reynolds: Bravo! You are a young professional who has done all of those things. And we are so proud of you, and excited for you, Johana! Thank you and we look forward to just following your trajectory.

Reynolds Community College is a launchpad for so many great things. It is a launchpad and you were a perfect example of that. 祝贺你获得航空航天工程学位，并获得在波音公司工作的绝佳机会.

And, for everyone who is listening, 我认为约翰娜的故事以及我们在这个系列中谈到的校友的故事, shows there is an opportunity for every student here at Reynolds. 无论你的情况或背景如何，这里都有一个适合你的社区. Our students have a fan club and a cheering squad behind them.

It's just been terrific to see that payoff for Johana. 谢谢你，约翰娜谢谢大家收听本期的 Voices of Reynolds. We'll catch you next time!

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