Carmen Mercado

she/her

B.S. Applied Mathematics, 1997

Carmen Mercado graduated with BS in Applied Mathematics and a specialization in computing. While at UCLA she attended the Army Reserve once a month and two weeks a year. During her first year as a transfer she participated in the UCLA Marching Band since it was a dream to be a part of a large group and to attend games and events playing music. The following year she joined the Society of Women Engineers. It was an opportunity to learn about women in Engineering. This lead to an interest in applying to companies for an internship in Engineering. The military was also a career path and interest when she later joined the ROTC at UCLA. It was a both a challenge mentally and physically as well as a learning experience in becoming a leader. The idea of going to War had crossed her mind and was not something she wanted to pursue again. During this time she had to decide if she should continue with the military or pursue an internship with a technical company. In the end she made the decision to continue a career in technology which resulted in a summer internship with Xerox before her senior year. It was a blessing for her since it then turned to a full time offer after graduation. Again she had to make a decision if she would continue her career in Los Angeles or move to Orange County since a 2nd job offer was also awaiting before graduation in IT department for Banker Trust. Since she is very adventurous she decided on a career in Orange County in order to experience a different life.