In honor of Women’s History Month, KOAT celebrates courageous, brilliant, and inspiring women who’ve made contributions to society, culture, and history — the women who strive endlessly for equality, justice, and opportunity. Courageous, heroic, and tenacious are just a few words to describe New Mexico’s very own Dorothy Mberile. At age 24, Mberile has fought and overcome battles one could only imagine. Born and raised in West Africa, she fled her country, Cameroon, during the Anglophone Crisis, known as the Ambazonian War of Independence — an ongoing civil war in the southern regions of Cameroon. “It was very sad and traumatizing to me. For my parents, for my siblings, it was something we had to walk through in fear.” Mberile said. “I got really depressed, and the thought of hearing gunshots like every other day, someone dying, someone in a pool of blood right by the store — and, because of the conflict, you never know when it’s coming.”Despite multiple kidnappings of her loved ones, Mberile and her family persevered. On a quest to follow her dreams, Dorothy fled her country, trusting God to pull her through tough times.“I have faith in God. He takes care of us. I could not be here without Him. I feel like He’s a big part of my journey so far,” she said. “My dreams definitely keep me going and keep me working hard. You have to be prepared. You have to be focused, and you have to be determined to get your goals and succeed.”Four years later, Mberile is on track to achieving her goals as a computer engineer in the world of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) at the University of New Mexico. She also serves as an intern at Q Station — a space technology cohort, in partnership with Air Force Research Laboratories. “When I was 8 years old, I was fortunate to be in a program by one of my teachers. He had a computer basic skill class. I was fortunate for my mom to enroll me in it. I learned basic typing, writing, Microsoft Word, and I was fascinated with it. It was the ‘a-ha’ moment for me, like — I need to do stuff like this,” Mberile said.With one more year left at UNM, Mberile plans to head to grad school as she continues to advocate for education in her country.Fun Fact: Dorothy hopes to land her dream job as a software engineer at Google. She also wants to learn how to ride a bike, swim, and skateboard because she did not have a chance to learn how to do so during her childhood while in Cameroon.For more on Dorothy, follow her journey here.