By Flynn Espe

Washington State University Tri-Cities student Eric Mayo-Gutierrez had a busy semester last fall. In addition to his regular coursework as a third-year mechanical engineering major, he was also juggling multiple campus jobs as a peer mentor, laboratory assistant, and undergraduate research assistant. That was on top of an engineering internship with the Grant County Public Utility District that lasted from June to February.

When he’s not occupied with work or study, you might find him enjoying a friendly game of pool in the Student Union Building, one of his go-to hangout spots on campus. He’s also currently gearing up for his next big adventure as an engineering intern in Tokyo, Japan, later this summer — an opportunity made possible after receiving the Benjamin A. Gilman scholarship.

“Would I have it any other way? Probably not,” Mayo-Gutierrez said. “I kind of enjoyed putting myself through it.”

While he’s certainly making the most of his time as a Coug, Mayo-Gutierrez says it took him a few starts and attempts, including prior semesters spent at two other WSU campuses, to find his stride. As the first person in his family to attend college, he’s thankful for the opportunities and support that have helped him along the way.

From aptitude test to college application

Looking back, Mayo-Gutierrez says he was in middle school when he began to think seriously about his future. That was when a career pathways test revealed he might be well-suited for an engineering profession. As to what kind of engineering profession he should pursue — the test didn’t say.

After briefly looking into electrical engineering during high school, he quickly ruled out that branch of the field.  “I kind of made the same mistake everyone else does early on and confused electrical engineering with being an electrician,” he says with a laugh.

Eventually, a different pathway emerged when he inherited a hand-me-down vehicle from a late relative. “It had a bad end motor — things that weren’t in tip-top shape and some rust,” Mayo-Gutierrez says. Wanting to restore some of the car’s deteriorated components, he started learning how to weld using some tools from his uncle, who he was living with at the time. That interest led him to an associate’s degree and welding certificate from Big Bend Community College, as well as his first full-time job as a weld specialist at Genie.

Although he enjoyed the work, Mayo-Gutierrez quickly started to have doubts about the longevity of his newfound profession.

“Welding came with health risks that I started picking up on,” Mayo-Gutierrez says. “I had eye-health concerns with the smoke and the different chemicals.”

With the support of his family, Mayo-Gutierrez decided to further his education at WSU Vancouver, choosing mechanical engineering as the best major for pursuing his interest in robotics, while still building upon his welding foundation. Upon completing his first semester there, Mayo-Gutierrez decided he was ready to experience the full breadth of what university life had to offer, and he transferred to WSU Pullman the following spring.

“I dived into some clubs,” Mayo-Gutierrez says, “I met some great people and learned a lot about how to work in a group engineering setting.”

The perfect break

Despite the many positives, however, life in Pullman didn’t fully click.

“I’d been living in small towns before, and I kind of wanted to branch out,” Mayo-Gutierrez says. “I love Pullman, but for me, it just didn’t work out.”

He decided to change campuses once more, this time settling closer to home at WSU Tri-Cities for the fall 2024 semester. It was here that he finally found the winning combination of expanded extracurricular opportunities and a bigger-city environment that felt right for him.

Still, he says, his overall student experience didn’t magically transform overnight, and he soon realized it would take more than a change of zip code to get the most out of his education.

“First semester, I was not as active in the campus as I am now,” Mayo-Gutierrez said. “I was one of the students that just came to campus, went to classes, went back home. That was the daily cycle.”

All of that began to change one day during the spring 2025 semester, when Mayo-Gutierrez asked a classmate if he wanted to check out the pool table in the Student Union Building after class. Neither of them knew how to play well, he says, but they were willing to give it a shot. It soon became his favorite campus activity, but that’s not all.

“Just asking a simple question started rolling the ball for me. I started meeting new people, and from meeting new people I started making new connections,” he says. “I met so many great people that motivated me to keep going forward — convinced me I could do more.”

Mayo-Gutierrez used that momentum to continue pursuing even more extracurricular activities and experiences. For his spring break, instead of sleeping in or going on a trip, he took part in WSU’s Power Practicum, which involved a weeklong series of on-site visits to nearby power and engineering companies.

“You learn what the company stands for, what they plan on doing, and how they’re going to help shape the power industry in the United States,” Mayo-Gutierrez said. “It’s just a good overview of what the company does and what to expect if you were to work there.”

The professional connections he made during the Power Practicum helped him land an engineering internship with Grant County P.U.D. But he didn’t stop there. By the time his fall 2025 semester began, Mayo-Gutierrez had also lined up each of his other aforementioned campus jobs.

As a research assistant, he gained experience testing various materials for 3D printing and manufacturing. In his role as the biology and chemistry laboratory prep assistant, he connected with students and faculty from the other scientific disciplines on campus.

“It went from no jobs, no research, straight to a full workload,” he says. “I feel like that gave me a small glimpse of what I can do later on.”

Paying it forward

Perhaps his most meaningful campus job experience was becoming a mentor in the brand-new Student Success Peer Mentors program. Through that role, Mayo-Gutierrez helped close to 30 new incoming WSU Tri-Cities students navigate their own first semester on campus by encouraging them to get involved.

“That was my main inspiration to become a peer mentor, just to be able to show students what they can become,” Mayo-Gutierrez said. “You don’t know until you try.”

For now, he’s still taking advantage of new opportunities as they arise. In March, for example, Mayo-Gutierrez presented a research paper titled “Performance Evaluation of a Quadruped Robotic Platform” at the 2026 Showcase for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities at WSU Pullman, taking home a Novice award in the Engineering & Physical Sciences category.

Mayo-Gutierrez says his new career objective is to work internationally on biomedical devices, creating more affordable healthcare options through technological and mechanical engineering innovation. He also hopes his story and example will encourage other first-generation college students to think beyond their current circumstances and dream big.

“I want to help show that even though we don’t come from a lot, we can still do so much,” he says.