When Krystal Peña ‘21 was deciding which college to attend after high school, she knew she wanted to be far enough away from her home in Chicago to feel independent, yet close enough to home to get back quickly if necessary. As a first-generation student, Peña didn’t have the experiences of her family to fall back on. She says, “My high school AP Stats teacher is a Valparaiso University alum. She coordinated a field trip to the University and gave us a personalized tour. I fell in love with campus and with how small it was. The thought of college as a high school student was very overwhelming and I thought that Valpo was a very nice campus, very small, and it felt like home. It checked all the boxes for me.”
Peña decided on a double major of electrical engineering and Spanish and ultimately ended up spending a total of five years at the University, when the COVID-19 pandemic foiled her study abroad plans in 2020. During her time at Valpo, Peña became heavily involved in several organizations on campus such as LIVE (LatinX in Valparaiso for Excellence) and AAPIC (Asian American Pacific Islander Coalition). She also found time to compete in ballroom dance for three years and was a founding member of SHPE (Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers), an organization which did not exist at Valpo when Peña arrived. She adds, “All of my friends knew if they couldn’t find me anywhere, they should look in one of two locations. Gellersen because I was the only engineering major out of my friend group or the LIVE office. Back then, it was in the second floor of the Union. That’s literally where I would spend all of my time.”
Among Krystal’s most cherished Valpo memories are the years she spent performing at the annual World Banquet performances on campus. She explains, “The event is hosted by the international student organization, VISA (Valparaiso International Student Organization). Every year around the springtime they host these performances for any student who would like to showcase a part of their culture. They are able to perform dance or poetry, whatever art form they choose. I did mine for Mexico during my junior year. My freshman year I hosted and did the emceeing. My sophomore year I did a K-Pop dance. I had a lot of friends who were international students, so that’s how I kind of got myself involved and that’s how I met so many more people.”
For Peña, her time at Valpo created a sense of community for her and her friends. She says, “Even after we graduated, they are still people I talk to every day. We all have our separate jobs now and separate lives, but we always find a way to get back together. I think that’s something that was very valuable at Valpo. If we ever need a place to get together, we’re kind of scattered all over the place, the one place we always agree to is meeting up at Valpo. It’s somewhere that’s very dear to us and very easy for us to access. We reminisce about what was going on at campus and the things we used to do.”
Currently, Peña is an embedded software test engineer for Caterpillar. She’s continued to be involved in her professional life as well. “I am continuing on with what I learned as a SHPE student and moving that over into my professional role. I participate in what we call the employee resource groups, so I am part of the Caterpillar Latino Connections group, as well as SHPE. The CLC is all of the Latinos who work for Caterpillar throughout the globe and in any role. Within the engineering group, I participate in SHPE recruiting for the organization. The past two years, I’ve been to the SHPE national conference recruiting students, which has been really fun, to be on the opposite side of what happens at a career fair.”
Peña credits her Valpo experience with helping her to become the leader she is today. She explains, “I was able to gain leadership experience so early on in my time at Valpo that it gave me all the skillsets on how to communicate properly, how to send out emails, who to communicate to, who the right person is on campus, how the student senate works, how to do a proposal, how to write bylaws, all of the formats that I could possibly learn in order for me to develop SHPE and bring SHPE to campus. Having all of that communication and all of those leadership experiences helped me to land a job later on once I was applying for jobs. Being the president of an organization, you have to really be out there, and really be the representative of your organization. When it came to SHPE, I had to really put myself out there, as uncomfortable as I might have been.”
Outside of work, Peña has continued to give back to her community through mentorship and program development. She says, “I am a part of the student alumni board for my middle school back in Chicago, called Namaste Charter School. It’s a small school on the southside of Chicago. We try to do programming for the 8th grade students and alumni students who are in high school. A lot of the things that I do is to help people who are like me and from backgrounds like mine. As a first-generation student, as a Latina, I really try to help kids get into high school, get into college. As long as I help somebody, that’s something that I always feel very proud of.”
Not only is Peña a first-generation college student, she is also a first-generation United States citizen. Her mother immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico before Krystal was born. She says, “My parents and I have gone through so much over the years. My dad has always worked so hard to provide for our family. My mom immigrated from Mexico and did not know a single word of English. I was born in Queens, NY. When she was pregnant with me, she would have to learn how to take the subway at night and had no idea where she was going. We eventually moved to Chicago and had to start all over a little bit. A lot of struggles come from being from an immigrant family. I had to learn a lot by myself, but at the same time my mom tries her best to really learn and understand what I go through as well.”
Peña adds that her mother’s resolve and tenacity make her very proud. “She told me recently that she’s going to take an English class because she just really wants to be proficient at it. She can talk very well. She can read, she can write. She kind of underestimates herself a little bit. I tell her, ‘You can do this!’. Now she’s working towards getting a GED. I’m super proud of her. She’s someone who came here not knowing a single word of English. Now she’s someone who wants to educate herself even more and set an example for myself and my younger sister. She’s really trying to be as best as she can. I think she’s done a lot and I’m just very proud of her. Someday I would like to give back to her as much as I can.”
Krystal’s advice to other first-generation students is to not be afraid to ask for help. She says, “As a first-generation student, you kind of hesitate to ask for help because you’ve always been expected to just figure it out yourself. But honestly, asking for help and finding a mentor out there that you really idolize or somebody that you see and you say, ‘I want to be up to their level’. Get all the help that you can and all the expertise to help you along the way. I’ve met a lot of great women at Caterpillar. I’ve been able to get great friendships out of the connections I have made here. Keep anyone that’s within your circle close so that if you ever need help with anything, or if you’re ever stuck or need any advice on career or life, they’re always there to help.”
Krystal Peña is an inspirational Valpo alumna who encapsulates exactly what it means to be a Beacon. She is a force, who illuminates the path for herself and others. Her future is as bright as she is.
