Dominguez, Rebeca

Rebeca Dominguez, an industrial and systems engineering major, has been obsessed with Disney engineering since before she even knew basic math. Spending part of her childhood in close proximity to Disney World sparked her thought process on how things work. Eventually this brought her to Virginia Tech and her major in engineering.

Her love of Disney also lead her to do the Disney College Program, where she spent six months working at Space Mountain. Through this time, she learned about Disney's engineering infrastructure, and just how the first CAD designed roller coaster was ahead of its time. She was able to network with current engineers and to learn of her interest in workforce management and simulations of both rides and park traffic. If you have to ask, yes, she did get to see Space Mountain plenty of times with the lights on.

Rebeca started out as a Hypatian her freshman year, completing as many events and service hours as she could fit in her schedule. The next year, she joined the professional development committee, where she led the weekly Slush Rush events that allow students to really get to know faculty while enjoying slushies. Finally, she moved on to be the liaison for the professional development committee, helping the upperclassmen plan events that teach the freshman everything from how to take advantage of job interviews to how to flex their creative muscles.

Outside of school, Rebeca has been heavily involved with her Youth in Government program. Beginning in 7th grade, she loved that it gave kids a voice and encouraged students to be active citizens. Although she is no longer able to participate, she still goes back to her home state twice a year to lead conferences for the high school and middle school students. She's even gone so far as to intern for the YMCA to optimize the conference set up and bill tracking system.

If you ask Rebeca about her future now (or even 15 years ago!), she will say that it will definitely involve a very friendly mouse as her boss.