Julie Rivera was born in Alhambra, California, the youngest in a family of seven. A special program at Alhambra High School, Biomed, got Julie involved in scientific research in a variety of fields as a freshman. With an early love for Star Trek, she ended up studying Astronomy at Pomona College. After graduation, Julie found herself a position as an Observatory Assistant at Keck Observatory situated at one of the world's premiere astronomy sites, Mauna Kea, Hawaii. An Observatory Assistant at Keck operates the telescopes and aids astronomers in the collection of data from the top of Mauna Kea. Perhaps the most important thing to learn from Julie’s story is this: lack of money is not an impediment against going to college and reaching the stars.