She is 23 years old, she is the first aerospace engineer in Argentina and dreams of working in Formula 1: “I am focused on achieving it”

December 2016. He was close to graduating from school with a bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences. One day after class he took a bus to the National University of La Plata to enroll in college. She was between Chemical Engineering and Aeronautical Engineering, but, like any adolescent, the fear of closing a stage and starting a new one did not allow her to finish defining it. However, she didn’t think too much about it and let herself be carried away by her intuition: there was something in her that made her lean towards the second option.

After a few years, the degree was replaced by Aerospace Engineering and she opted for this path without imagining what awaited her. “I felt that it was there and I did not regret it,” said Valentina Marletta, the 23-year-old girl who took her last exam on Friday and became the country’s first aerospace engineer.

Also read: She wants to be an aerospace engineer and worked on a NASA project to plan a mission to Mars

In a dialogue with TN, he admitted that he still can’t believe he has achieved his goal: “I don’t fall, I didn’t have time. I haven’t gone ashore yet. She was very focused on performing.” “When I came out, it was a waterfall of tears. I was nervous before an exam, with my family who was outside, ”she said and expressed her relief after so many years of study, effort and sacrifice.

It was her colleagues who said that she was the first woman to graduate from the race, something she had not imagined. Although she feels like “just another engineer”, she highlighted being able to lead the way for other people: “If a woman thought she couldn’t achieve something and this helps her make the decision to do it, that is the most valuable message to give.”

In that sense, he recalled: “Throughout my career, the number of times I cried because I felt like I couldn’t, but finally you can and everything you learn is worth it is inexplicable.”

Happy, the young woman celebrated with all her family and friends. (Photo: Courtesy Valentina Marletta)

The young woman was curious about how airplanes work since she was little: “I had the opportunity to travel when I was a girl and it generated a certain fascination and intrigue for me. I think that was what led me to choose the career, ”she recounts and points out the possibility of having different professional paths from engineering. Although she assures that ten-year-old Valentina would never have imagined reaching her goal, she has no doubt that she would be proud of her achievements.

Now he knows that a different stage in his life is coming: “You leave high school and you say ‘what do I study?’ I graduated and I’m starting to think about what my next step is going to be”.

Also read: During his adolescence he harvested grapes to support his family and now he graduated as an engineer

Dream next to come true: work in Formula 1

During the pandemic, Marletta saw a lot of Formula 1 competitions and awoke a new passion: “It made me feel that the two things, together with what I studied, could be combined and work at some point.”

“It is my biggest dream, yes. I also know that it is difficult because there is a lot of competition in that field, but I know that I am focused and that is what I like. All the decisions I make from now on will be to achieve that,” she stated.

Since she was a girl, Valentina was curious to know how airplanes work. (Photo: Courtesy Valentina Marletta)

Although he is not clear on exactly what he will do in his immediate future, he does know what the path is. That is why he will seek experience in the field and, in this context, he spoke with a graduate who worked in Formula 1 and sowed hope: “I know it is possible. He told me that he did a master’s degree abroad and arrived, so I’ll follow that path ”.

Also read: Young Argentines created a satellite for a NASA contest and were among the 10 best in the world

In addition, she highlighted the role of her family that accompanied her and made a dent in her way of pursuing dreams. “I am the youngest in the family. Both my parents and my brothers studied medicine and I always saw them make an effort. I learned from them, they all marked me. I saw them work, study in something complicated and extensive. One always aspires to follow those steps, they were my example to follow”.

His engine is never losing sight of the goal: “Wanting to get somewhere is what motivates me. Having that dream that motorizes you to go for everything. From finishing the last exam to fighting for what I want. Seek motivation in something that is distant, in the long term, that allows you to achieve small things. That will get you closer to where you want to go.”