Student Profile: Emilia Paz Ojeda
“It is important being able to understand other cultures and perspectives, and that goes for more than just between countries, it is true for inside the U.S.”
Emilia Paz OjedaAs a foreign exchange student in Gardner, Kansas, Emilia Paz Ojeda was one of just three international students. So, when she went to the University of Kansas, just 30 miles away, she was surprised by the number of other international students on campus
In her first week during orientation, she met students from more than 40 countries and her best friends the first semester were from the Netherlands, Australia and the United Kingdom.
“It just teaches you so much,” Paz Ojeda said. “It gives you something that you didn’t know you were missing.”
She also made many American friends, building a sense of home in Lawrence even though she missed her family in Peru.
“It made me feel like I wasn’t alone here at KU,” Paz Ojeda said.
This spring Paz Ojeda graduated with a degree in computer science and was one of two students who received the Alexis F. Dillard Student Involvement Award, which recognizes a senior who has unselfishly contributed to the university through campus involvement.
Interested in pursuing a career in science and technology, Paz Ojeda knew after graduating high school in Peru that she wanted to study in the United States. Through Rotary International, she did an exchange year of high school in Gardner, which was where she learned about KU and its STEM programs.
Throughout her time at KU, Paz Ojeda said she grew a lot academically, but it was the connections with people that she valued most. One of the highlights was helping to organize KU hackathons, weekend-long events where students come together to create and work on computer technology projects.
Over four years, she saw the event grow from 30 to 300 participants.
“Just being able to organize an event with other students so we could work on tech, those are the opportunities and what I really liked about college,” Paz Ojedga said.
This summer, Paz Ojeda started her career as a software engineer for Google, where she believes her international education will be integral in communicating with colleagues.
“It is important being able to understand other cultures and perspectives, and that goes for more than just between countries, it is true for inside the U.S.,” Paz Ojeda said. “It helps a lot in how we communicate.”