A cold breeze passes through the auto tech room, the tools hitting car parts and drills in motion. Nothing but boys in sight working on car parts, while others learn about the different pieces and how to fix them. Further down the room is a girl changing the oil on a red truck, senior Diana Hernandez, who has been in Auto Tech class for two years now. Hernandez is one of two girls in Auto Tech and her first day in Auto Tech made her feel out of place.

“I was the only girl and there were like 25 boys, so I started to doubt being in the class, but a week later they added another girl,” Hernandez said.

Even though Hernandez is a girl in a male-dominated field, she is not allowing it to derail her from her goals. After high school, Hernandez wants to work towards owning her own shop that specializes in damage and collision repair.

“You can take a damaged car and make it look fresh out the dealership,” Hernandez said.

Being a woman in this field is very challenging and can be apprehensive. Luckily Hernandez has very supportive family and friends.

“My family is very supportive. It’s different because I’m a girl but for them, it’s like if I like it, they love it. My friends think it’s really cool. They know I’m really into cars and mechanic stuff.”

July 04, 2017 is the date when Hernandez realized, she wanted to work with cars. It all hit her like a light-bulb while she was at a car expo in Houston, TX.

“I stopped by, my mom and I were looking at all the beautiful cars, but there was one that really caught my eye. It was a red ’66 Mustang and it went on from there. It was then that I wanted to learn about cars and the trade itself,” Hernandez said.