In the 3rd grade, my childhood best friend introduced me to a show called Mythbusters. The first “myth” I ever watched: the exploding lava lap. I don’t recall much of the episode, though I do remember that they wanted to know if it could burst and would it be fatal (they eventually get it to explode, quite unfortunate for a ballistic gel dummy). Why this captured my attention so, I don’t really know. Perhaps it was because it was the strangest question I’ve ever heard–a thought that had never occurred to me. Yet here they were, asking a question not many would ask, and finding an answer, and figuring out the how and doing it. For the next several years, I would watch this show, always fascinated with the science behind it all, the questions the scientists would ask, how everything that could go wrong but at the end of the day they always had a solution to it. This was the moment I knew I wanted to go into STEM, even if I didn’t quite know it at the time.

In the 5th grade, my class took a field trip to the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. By then I knew two things: I wanted to go in science (even if I didn’t know what I want to do) and I was good at math and liked it (only one in the class really, kudos to young me). I also held an interest in outer space and space programs done by NASA, though I didn’t think of this as leading to a possible career. While there, my class watched an IMAX movie, Hubble, a short film of the repairs to the Hubble Space Telescope by the astronauts onboard the space shuttle Atlantis. To this day I still remember the narrator mention how easily the gloves on the astronauts’ suits could tear and the delicateness of the reflection plate in the telescope; just one cm off could ruin the whole project. They showed some of the most beautiful and breath-taking pictures captured by the space telescope. It was during this one movie that I knew I had to be an engineer. “One day I’m gonna do that… One day I’m gonna fix that…” That was what inspired me, what captivated me and what showed me the beauty of the world.

In the summer before 7th grade, I got to go Kennedy Space Center in Florida. I got to stand next to one of the shuttles that carried some the bravest men and women up to the stars. I saw artifacts from the early space missions, how despite how limited they were by our standards to day, they managed to pull of some of the greatest feats in the history of mankind. I stood on a field where greatness was made though countless trial and error, though tragedy and triumph. This is what gave me hope, what showed me the greatness humans can achieve if they allow nothing, not the odds against them, not the doubt in themselves, not fear of failure and its consequences, to deter them.

By 9th grade, I was taking my very first engineering class. It was the basics of the basics while still offering a challenge. I was learning, exploring, growing. It is during this class I really began to grow as a leader and felt like I wanted to, needed to, be a leader in my future field, not just a player working to make others dreams for themselves and the world a reality. This is when I started to take my first steps towards my educational future.

By 11th, I started my search for where I would study engineering, with strong leaning towards mechanical engineering. I want build, create, help move the world along and take it to new places with new technology and new devices. I have only just begun to see a world much grander, more ingenious than I could have imagined. I want to witness it all while becoming part of it. Today, I don’t know if my aspirations are still in the stars, by they were definitely inspired by them.

The stars are what lead me here and lead me as I press on, lighting my path as I stumble along. My experiences have helped shape my philosophies and how I see the world. By chance, I began to discover where I wanted to go young and found inspiration in grand ideas and achievements. STEM and engineering helped make me who I am, and who I hope I am is a person sees the possibilities alongside the reality of life, but doesn’t allow it to deter me. I will struggle and fall and on days wonder why even get up, but every time I see the stars out my window, I’m reminded why I keep going. Every time I drive my car down the road, I’m remind I must face challenges if I want to leave a lasting mark on the world. Every time I see a bridge spanning an ounce impossible gap, I’m reminded to find the splendor in the everyday things. I have learned to appreciate and find the beauty in even the smallest feats of engineering and human determination to conquer problems before them. I have spent long periods just lying on the ground, but little by little, I’ve started to pick myself up and I start to stand a little higher each time.

What sets my heart on fire, you ask? My dreams, my hopes, my inspirations. The simple beauty along the most breathtaking. The most complex of puzzles alongside daily simplicities. Common occurrences next to grand undertakings. Changing the world while enjoying the now. I need them to remind to find the light in dark days, find the beauty in the simple things when the world is gray, and keep me going when I can barely remember why. Though questions asked and answers sought, I’ve begun to discover my place in the world and started down my path to be a part of it. My heart is set aflame by the chance of showing another young girl what can come from asking a question few others would ask and finding an answer.