Jessica De la Cruz graduated from El Camino College this past June with an exemplary GPA, research experience and scholarships, but she had one more project to complete before transferring to UC Irvine. She spent her summer at NASA. The aerospace engineering grad was one of 280 community college students from across the nation who traveled to NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center to participate in the NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars (NCAS) onsite experience.

As an ECC student, Jessica was a member of the Honors Transfer Program and Mathematics Engineering Science Achievement Program (MESA). Both offered support and opportunities for academic enrichment.

"MESA was crucial to help me succeed," Jessica said. "MESA helped me meet my goals by fostering a community where I could access tutoring and counseling specialized for science students. With MESA, I was part of an academic community where we could form study groups and excel, despite the rigor of our classes."