Xenia Leon Hopes to Help Low-Income People Through Electrical Engineering

Wed, 11 July, 2012 at 9:26 am

Leon will graduate from Cañada and transfer to Cal Poly this fall.

Xenia Leon originally thought she wanted to pursue a career in nursing to help low-income residents but now she plans to help people by applying herknowledge in electrical engineering to create better medical devices.

“As I started my studies in college, I found I didn’t have a passion for anatomy and physiology like I did math,” she said.

Xenia grew up in San Mateo and attended Hillsdale and Aragon high schools before eventually graduating from East Union High School in Mateca. “I always did well in math but when I arrived at Cañada I was convinced by Dr. E and Cathy to pursue a career in engineering.”

Dr. E is Amelito Enriquez, professor of engineering and mathematics, and Cathy Lipe is the director for the Mathematics, Engineering, Science, Achievement program.

“I’m so happy I made the switch because I’ve found my passion.” Xenia said she wants to eventually pursue a master’s degree in bio-medical engineering. She believes she can pursue her dream of helping low-income people by using her education to better engineer medical devices. “That’s my ultimate goal,” she said. “I want to give back to the community.”
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