Diana Trujillo Came To The U.S. With Only $300 Pursuing Her American Dream

Diana Trujillo has worked at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Diana Trujillo is a flight director for NASA’s Mars Perseverance

Diana Trujillo was born and raised in Cali, Colombia, and as a young Latina, she imagined exploring and traveling through space. At the age of seventeen, just one day after graduating from high school in Colombia, Trujillo immigrated to the United States to pursue her dream of one day working for NASA. She enrolled in English as a Second Language course, worked three jobs as a housekeeper, and supported her own full-time studies for her studies and later joined NASA in 2007.

Trujillo is now part of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab and worked on the team that created the robotic arm that will collect rock samples on Mars. “Understanding, if we’re alone in the universe, is the ultimate question,” she said. “I hope that within the one year of surface operations on Mars, we can answer that question soon.”

She said her experience early on as an immigrant motivates her to give her best always, especially when coming from a country that had limited opportunities.

“I saw everything coming my way as an opportunity. I didn’t see it as, ‘I can’t believe I’m doing this job at night,’ or ‘I can’t believe that I’m cleaning. I can’t believe that I’m cleaning a bathroom right now.’ It was just more like, ‘I’m glad that I have a job and I can buy food and have a house to sleep.’ And so, I think that all of those things make me, and even today, helps me see life differently. I see it more as every instant I need to be present because every instance matters.”

Trujillo is a passionate advocate for STEM education, particularly for women and the Hispanic community. She currently serves as a member of the Board of Trustees for the Columbia Memorial Space Center, a hands-on learning center located in Downey, California.