Christine Munoz

I really enjoy working at NASA. NASA is known for its technology and the people behind that technology. I have been a part of NASA for 15 years. I still find myself overwhelmed with the intelligence and the wide knowledge base NASA possesses.

My biggest challenge is staying on top of the latest technology. Technology changes almost daily it seems. I am always on the computer, whether it be from me troubleshooting or just surfing the net keeping up with the newest tools and latest upgrades or finding out more information about that ever changing technology.

I have always been intrigued with computers and found them to be amazing. I am very comfortable around any system even if I am not familiar with it. I would find myself trying to see how far I could go with computers before I broke something or figured out something new in the process. I love technology, I have learned to embrace it and learn as much as I can.

As far as school, I was good in math but really didn't care much about science during my High School years. I liked math so much before I graduated I had decided I was going to become a Certified Public Accountant. After two years in College, I realized it wasn't for me. Math however is very important in my daily life as well as in my job. We have budgets that we are responsible for and need to monitor them daily. We also keep track of how many calls we get during a day. We have monthly metric reports which help us track everything we have done and this is all based on math. We need to know when placing orders how to calculate everything we have purchased to ensure we are getting charged correctly. Ordering RAM (which is memory) for different desktop systems would be hard without knowing your math. If you cannot figure out what amount of RAM you need and how much your system can hold you wouldn't be able to order RAM effectively.

My childhood was not the best. I grew up with two brothers and one sister. My father left us at an early age and my mother was left behind with 4 children and no education or means for support. I also had to fight my heritage. My mother believed us girls were second to my brothers since they would grow up to be men and be the providers; we were their to take care of them and become good wives when we got older. It took awhile but I fought every step of the way and pushed myself through school and was the first one to graduate and go onto college. Later my brother and sister went back to night school to receive their GEDs.

I would have liked to have know when I was between the ages of 11-14 that girls did matter. Girls had a voice and a right to do what ever they chose to do or chose to be. That men were not above us as I was led to believe. We are all equal and as equals have the rights to become whoever we want.

I have several hobbies. I play a classical guitar, I sing and I love to dance. I also participated in the first NetDay at my children's school to help them get onto the Internet. I have already signed up to be a volunteer for the next NetDay.

I now have three beautiful children. Their ages Paul - 15, Nicole - 13, Daniel - 10. I am a single mother and have my children with me 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. It is not easy raising three children on your own and juggling a very demanding job. I am up by 6:00 getting everyone up from bed and making lunches. I send my son off to high school and drop off one other son at elementary school and my daughter is dropped off at her middle school. I put in 10-hour days and when I leave work I pick up two of my three children and drive home. During that time I am already planning dinner in my head and when I am going to get a chance to check homework. Once everything is cleaned up and children are in bed I am back on my computer for a couple of hours.

My childhood made me strong and taught me a lot of good lessons. I live daily by these lessons 1) Never lose sight of who you are, 2) Never forget your worth, 3) Never give up on you, 4) NEVER let others tell you what you cannot do, 5) Never stop learning. Life is a challenge and may not seem fair at times, but who you are and who you become depends on how you handle those life challenges and your growth from them.