• Brooke Owens Fellow, Class of 2022

• California State University, Long Beach, Mathematics, ‘23

• Host Institution: BryceTech

• Executive Mentor: Christie Iacomini

• Brookie Mentor: Jessica Kuleshov

Monica Namo is a post-baccalaureate student pursuing her second bachelor's degree in mathematics at the California State University, Long Beach. Originally from San Diego, CA, after high school, Monica attended her local community college to pursue higher education as a first generation college student. She transferred to the University of California, Berkeley in 2017 and graduated in the spring of 2019 with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. While attending Berkeley, she discovered her passion in STEM specifically in Mathematics and wanted to pursue a more technical career that involved using mathematics. After being a part of Women in Mathematics at Berkeley, she was set to pursue her second Bachelor's Degree in Mathematics.

After graduating, she attended the same local community college and became involved in a few opportunities such as researching double star systems with her physics professor and colleagues, participating in the NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars program, and interned at NASA’s Langley Research Center under the Applied Sciences Capacity Building Program. Her involvement in space exploration and the aerospace field, led her to become passionate in wanting to pursue her professional and academic endeavors to applying her skills in scientific research and other research projects specifically in the space industry. Monica also works at her local community college as a Student Ambassador, helping prospective and current students navigate college, transferring, financial aid, and other resources to guide students to achieve their goals at community college.

Monica has many goals and interests that include possibly working with engineers launching objects into deep space, working in mission control, working in academia, and being a resource and mentor to all students and especially to those who share similar experiences that many first-generation students face during their college journey.