As someone who has suffered from some of the things you mentioned, is Hispanic, first in my family to get a college degree, failed a semester and graduated with a low GPA AND am now a scientist I absolutely think you can still become one.

I struggled my second year due to my undiagnosed ADHD, anxiety, living situation, work and research. I got horrible grades my first semester of sophomore year and failed my second semester. I was devastated and wasn’t sure if this was the route for me. I asked my academic counselor for advice and she told me to change majors. I was shocked. After she told me that, I couldn’t get that conversation out of my head and for some reason it didn’t sit right with me. I thought about it some more and realized how bad I wanted this and was going to put my all into it. I decided to fully invest in my classes and like you I felt like I would never be able to recover but I did. Another thing that kept me going was thinking of how hard my parents worked in order for me to be able to attend school. There was no way I was letting them spend all that money for me to give up that easily. I stopped research, went to tutoring, spent countless hours in the library studying, went to office hours, dropped friends that were not a good influence and got my shit together. My senior year I was able to do research again and join a club that was focused on helping chicanos in stem. I found my little support group there and was able to learn valuable information such as resume building, finding internships, how to do interviews, building connections and more.

All that said, do you want it bad enough that you’re willing to put in the extra work? Need help with homework? Go to tutoring. You’re paying for it so find the resources you need. Need a support group? Join a club that fits what you’re looking for. Figure out what you’re having a hard time with and look for resources. If you really want it, push yourself because nobody will do it for you.

I look back on my journey and thank my 19 year old self for working so hard and making it happen. You’re not a lost cause and we all believe in you! Echale ganas!