Dean’s medalist Emma Escandón, a thriving Latina in male-dominated computer science

For Emma Escandón, being one of the few women – and usually the only Latina – in her computer classes didn’t deter her from pursuing a degree and career in computer science at Fresno State.

“It was definitely difficult at first because it felt very isolating when I took my first classes. It was online during COVID, so I didn’t really get to see what a classroom looked like”, Escandón said. “It wasn’t until I got to Fresno State at my first in-person class, I got to really see. Wow! OK, I’m one of the few Latinas.”

That made Escandón want to be more competitive but yet she didn’t want to isolate herself even more.

“So, I was working together just getting over that barrier,” said Escandón, who earned her bachelor’s degree in computer science with a 4.0 GPA. She graduated on May 19 just four days before her 21st birthday on May 23.

Escandón was selected the undergraduate dean’s medalist for the College of Science and Mathematics.

“Thriving as a Latina in the currently male-dominated field of computer science, with a 4.0 GPA, Emma has impressed peers, faculty and others with her skills,” said Christopher Meyer, dean of the College of Science and Mathematics.

Escandón said she was shocked at first when she got the e-mail letting get know she was one of the undergraduate deans’ medalists.

“I think honestly one of the reasons I feel like I got it was just because of being able to like, come out of my shell and start doing more experience and saying ‘You know why not do this’. Why not go volunteer, why not go work here. So being able to just come out of my shell and be more involved in my community,” Escandón said, adding that it was a way to break out the stereotype in her major, “you know, keeps yourself just code, work by yourself.”

“I think it’s great to be able to show if you go out in the community, if you do things that are outside your comfort zone, you will be rewarded for that,” Escandón said. “And also, I think it’s great to represent Latinos in such a high level, especially in computer science.”

Getting into STEM

Escandón, of Fresno, and a Central High School Class of 2020 graduate, began at Fresno City College and Clovis Community College before transferring to Fresno State.

She is not the first person in her family to go to college. Both of her parents have college degrees and work in education.

Escandón got into STEM when she was in high school since she was very good at math and science.

“I was like, you know what, I think this is something I want to do, especially with computer science. I want to be on the cutting-edge side of technology,” said Escandón.

While at Fresno State, Escandón found motivation and a reminder of what her family sacrificed so she could attend college every time she walked by the César E. Chávez statue in the Peace Garden.

“It’s on my way to the library every day. So, every day it’s just right there and it just gives me a good reminder of, you know, I gotta keep working hard, staying motivated to do good in school,” Escandón said.

Both sets of grandparents worked in the Central Valley fields. Those who worked and lived in Huron have passed away, but her other grandparents live in Mendota.

Escandón was one of 18 students who participated in Fresno State’s Computer Science Google Camp to learn from Google employees and work on research.

Since the camp was aimed towards underrepresented groups in technology, Escandón said she got to be with be with people who looked like her and who had similar experiences.

Escandón worked on Kids Code, a program through the Kremen School of Education and Human Development, teaching in Fresno Unified after-school programs.

“It was definitely a great experience because when I was growing up, I didn’t really know anyone in tech,” said Escandón of being able to be a mentor and share her college experiences as well as her career goals with elementary and middle school students.

Escandón loved seeing the students light up with stuff they hadn’t seen before and hopes that being a mentor to them encourages those students to get into tech and know they can do this.

Escandón was also a computer science tutor at the Learning Center and is currently interning with the Hub of Digital Transformation and Innovation to create software solutions for campus and community partners.

She also now holds an internship at Famous Software, an organization that serves the fresh produce industry, according to Meyer.

“The family arc from picking produce to programming for produce is, as part of the transformation of opportunities in modern agriculture, something in which Emma’s family no doubt takes great pride,” Meyer said.

Escandón has two younger siblings and an older sister, who is also graduating from Fresno State this year.

Escandón will attend Stanford University in the fall to pursue a master’s degree in computer science.

Besides Stanford, Escandon applied and got into to several master’s programs in Computer Science including Cal Poly SLO, San Jose State, UCLA, Yale University.

Even though Yale was her first choice, Escandón said that once she got accepted into Stanford, she decided to go there to be in Silicon Valley plus she won’t be too far away from home. Her goal is a career in software engineering.

Emma Escandón’s favorites

Book: “My favorite book is probably, I would say, ‘Moneyball.’ I read that a couple summers ago and it just blends, you know sports and then some of the stuff I’m interested in computer science.”

Food/meal: “Oh, that’s tough. I definitely like anything I can share with my family, like family style. I think my favorite is when we go out to Chinese. And we do like the whole family style spin in the plates around. We usually go to Imperial Garden, that’s our favorite place to go to. And so, the best part of the meal though is at the end we all get our fortune cookies and then we go around the table reading them out so it’s great.”

Place to visit: “My favorite place to visit would have to be Maui, Hawaii. I love it over there. Yeah, we’ve been going for a while, and so the beaches are great and it’s great just relax, being able to relax. It’s our typical vacation spot as a family.”

Music to listen to: “I typically listen to a lot of genres, but my favorite is rock. I primarily listen to rock music.”

Movie: “My favorite movie would have to be ‘When Harry met Sally’ one of my favorite Rom Coms.’”

Hobby: “I like traveling with my family. I also enjoy very much cooking, so being able just to go into the kitchen without a recipe just kind of challenge myself like chopped and see what we have in the fridge make something for dinner.”

Best advice ever received: “The worst someone can say is no.’ My dad would tell me that, especially when I was applying to college and I was like, I don’t know if I’ll get in. He’s like the worst we can say is no. And then you move on, so just being able to just go for it.”