Dear Quetzi:

I am writing to you from the future, your future. The first thing you should know is that your dream of being a scientist, working in a laboratory and investigating the most interesting things in the world, has come true.

Every book you have browsed and everything you have learned is still alive in your mind, now enriched with years of new knowledge. You still have a lot to learn, and guess what? You still love it. We continue to do experiments, but no longer with things from the house that mom later searched for and found in disarray. Now we work with computers, robots, electronic cards and cables, lots of cables. Ah! And the tools that Uncle Pedro gave us, we still use them. He is no longer with us, but you fulfilled his dream: “an Aguilar with a patent”. In fact, you have more than one, and you can proudly call yourself a Mexican inventor.

You no longer do experiments alone or with mom. Now you work with many people who love to ask questions, are curious and share as much as you do. You are surrounded by brilliant minds that love science. You are no longer so rare in your environment and you lead research with high social impact, not only for the scientific community. You have collaborated with experts from many different areas, so each joint project has been an adventure where shared knowledge has always been the focus.

You have been mentored by great minds: passionate female doctors, natural leaders and generous colleagues. They have guided, advised and supported you until you learned to fly alone. You have a deep gratitude and admiration for them. Thanks to them, you have turned your ideas around and formulated research questions that became topics for brilliant students.

You no longer give classes to your sister, cousins, stuffed animals and the nenuco with that black slate and chalk, now it’s real. Every student who has worked with you, whether in internships, master’s or doctoral theses, has left a huge mark. Seeing them grow as people and professionals fills you with pride. You wish them success and show them off wherever you go.

And the best part: not only are you a scientist, you also married one. Your husband is intelligent, hardworking and passionate about technology, a great man in every way. Together you have written papers, developed projects and graduated students, each in their area: he in Virtual Reality and Mechatronics; you in Biomedical.

In addition to this, they share the most beautiful thing that has happened to them: their daughter. She is pure happiness, the greatest love you have ever felt. You have experimented with her more than you ever thought; you are happy and it has brought you closer to your family. You are a scientist mom, more motivated than ever to answer questions and build a world where women can achieve everything.

You have been able to grow and develop thanks to the support of your husband, who not only takes wonderful care of his baby, but also of you. He is the one who carries all the mental load of the house, so that you can carry that of the baby, he takes great care that you do not become saturated between being a mother and being a researcher. He is a great dad, present, loving, caring who has changed diapers since day 1, among many other tasks, and fulfilled your vision of painting the baby’s room while you had the most beautiful and big pregnant belly, you wore overalls and directed the entire operation from a rocking chair, just as you paint it in your drawings.

Yes, little one, we are happy and we have achieved many goals, thank God. With a husband, a baby girl, two dogs, a laboratory of Advanced Cyberphysical Systems, students and colleagues, you have become a scientist, inventor, engineer, technologist, teacher, doctor, researcher, wife, mother, daughter, sister, sister-in-law, aunt, and apprentice. And what’s to come!

Happy International Day of Women and Girls in Science. Keep doing experiments, reading and asking the most fascinating questions. Don’t lose your curiosity, my girl. You have a world to discover, more countries to visit, scientists to meet and smiles to give.

With love,
Your future self.

Rita Quetziquel Fuentes Aguilar is the interim director of the Institute of Advanced Materials for Sustainable Manufacturing, and professor-researcher at the School of Engineering and Sciences, of the Tec de Monterrey. Her research specializes in applications of biomedical engineering: design of new medical devices, implementation of control algorithms, identification of mathematical models, control of deformation of objects, machine learning and development of solutions in the medical area. She is a member of the National System of Researchers and mentor of Woman for the Future, a community that seeks to teach girls and young people about STEAM areas.