• Caydence Palmer | Mescalero Apache | Mescalero Apache High School

    Caydence Palmer has good reasons to be optimistic about her future. A senior at Mescalero Apache High School, she is applying to her dream college — the University of Arizona — and hoping to enter the field of mechanical engineering. Palmer, who’s had opportunities to travel the world, to be the youngest student in advanced engineering classes, and to be the only Indigenous participant in her highly competitive NASA internship cohort, is used to breaking barriers.