Growing up in rural Southern West Virginia near the Southwestern Virginia border, I didn’t see many people pursue higher education. Most went straight into the workforce or attended the local community college, and those who did choose a four-year university often followed paths aligned with traditional gender expectations or familiar local industries such as coal mining or nursing. In my own family, very few had the chance to attend college, and the only one who did in recent years relied heavily on scholarships and loans. As a Mechanical Engineering major with a minor in Safety Technology at Marshall University, I’m motivated by the opportunity to break that pattern and pursue a field that genuinely inspires me. Until high school, I was encouraged to choose careers that seemed “appropriate” for girls in my community—education or veterinary work because of my love of animals. Everything changed during my sophomore year when a friend asked me to join our vocational school’s robotics team because they needed members. That experience reshaped my entire future. Through the Robot Drone League competitions, I discovered how engineering could be used to solve real-world problems, especially those affecting the environment and local industries. Each year, the competition challenged us to design robots that addressed issues such as crop monitoring, environmental safety, and resource management, and I realized how powerful technology could be in protecting both people and the places we depend on. That experience sparked a passion I hadn’t known I was missing and inspired me to imagine a future where I could design robots that monitor environmental conditions and assist during mining accidents, reducing the risk to workers and helping prevent tragedies. My goal is to use engineering to support the communities that shaped me and to create safer, more sustainable solutions for industries that are vital to rural Appalachia. What excites me most about STEM is its ability to turn ideas into solutions that genuinely improve people’s lives. I’m drawn to fields where creativity and problem-solving come together, and information technology does exactly that by allowing us to build systems that make work safer, smarter, and more efficient. With IT skills, I can help develop tools that monitor environmental conditions, prevent accidents, and support decision-making in industries like coal mining, which are central to the region I grew up in. The more I learn about technology, the more I see how powerful it can be in protecting workers and the environment—whether through sensors that detect dangerous gases, software that tracks structural changes, or automated systems that respond faster than humans can. Technology can identify risks before they become disasters and reduce the need for people to enter hazardous situations. It also has the potential to bring modern safety practices to rural areas that often rely on outdated equipment or lack access to advanced monitoring systems, bridging a gap that has existed for generations. As industries evolve, information technology becomes even more essential for improving communication, streamlining operations, and ensuring that critical data reaches the right people at the right time. Through a career in information technology, I hope to combine engineering principles with data-driven systems to create safer workplaces, support environmental health, and bring meaningful innovation to communities that are frequently overlooked. My goal is to use STEM not just to solve problems, but to make a lasting difference in the places and industries that shaped me, helping ensure that the people who keep our lights on can do their jobs with greater confidence, protection, and support. The greatest challenge I’ve had to overcome was growing up in a community where opportunities felt limited and pursuing higher education, especially in STEM, was not something people around me encouraged or expected. For a long time, I struggled with the belief that I needed to follow the same path as everyone else, choosing a “safe” career that fit traditional expectations rather than something that genuinely inspired me. It was difficult to imagine a different future when so few people around me had taken that path, and I often questioned whether I was capable of more. Breaking away from that mindset took time, confidence, and the support of the few people who believed I could do more. Joining my vocational school’s robotics team became the turning point; it exposed me to engineering firsthand and showed me that I was capable of learning complex skills, solving real problems, and succeeding in spaces I once thought were out of reach. That experience helped me push past the doubts and stereotypes that had shaped my thinking for so long and gave me a sense of belonging in a field I had never imagined for myself. I managed to overcome the challenge by pushing myself academically, seeking mentors, and refusing to let fear or others’ expectations determine my future. In the process, I learned resilience, independence, and the importance of trusting my own abilities. Most importantly, I realized that my background doesn’t limit my potential—it motivates me to work harder and to create opportunities not only for myself but also for others from similar communities who may feel the same uncertainty I once did.

This scholarship aims to foster a community of women empowered by knowledge, driven by curiosity, and ready to contribute to STEM. That mission reflects my own journey because finding my path in STEM was neither immediate nor obvious. It took me years to figure out what I wanted to do as a career. In my youth, my dream jobs shifted constantly over the years, from ballerina to veterinarian to teacher, each one representing a different interest or phase of my life. I was curious about everything, but I didn’t yet know how to turn that curiosity into a direction. My turning point came during my sophomore year of high school, which was also my first year back in person after COVID. A friend asked me to join the robotics team at our vocational school, which was short on members. I didn’t have any experience with robotics, but I decided to give it a chance. I joined, and I never left till I graduated. What started as a favor to a friend quickly became the foundation and path of my future. Through robotics, I discovered Mechanical Engineering, a field that combined creativity, problem-solving, and real-world impact in a way nothing else ever had for me. Around the same time, the video game Horizon Zero Dawn sparked an idea that stayed with me: one day I could design a robot that helps people or protects our environment. The game’s themes of technology, nature, and responsibility resonated with what I was learning in robotics. It made me realize that engineering wasn’t about machines; it was about using innovation to improve the world. My high school robotics team competed in RDL, or Robot Drone League, an on-land league where each year’s field and the tasks were modeled after real-world situations. My senior year focused on agriculture: harvesting crops, monitoring plant health, and assessing environmental conditions. As my team worked to design a robot capable of completing those tasks, I began to see how closely our challenges mirrored the needs of actual farmers. The systems we were building weren’t just theoretical; they had real potential applications. That realization changed the way I viewed engineering. It made me believe that I could create something meaningful that helps the environment or provides farmers with safer, more efficient ways to monitor their crops. Robotics taught me that curiosity is powerful, and that knowledge becomes even more meaningful when it is used to solve real problems. It showed me that STEM is not just about equations or machinery; it is about people, communities, and the world we share. That is why the mission of this scholarship feels so important. Women in STEM bring perspectives shaped by resilience, creativity, and lived experience. We imagine different solutions, ask different questions, and push the field forward in ways that matter. I want to be part of that community. I want to continue growing as an engineer who uses her curiosity and skills to design technologies that make life safer, cleaner, and more sustainable. Robotics gave me my direction, Mechanical Engineering gave me the tools, and scholarships like this give women like me the opportunity to keep moving forward—empowered, driven, and ready to contribute to the future of STEM.

Why do I love math? In all honesty, when I first started school in elementary school, I hated math with a passion for my first few years. Though I do believe part of that was that the methods my teachers used to teach it did not align well with how I learned best or with how my elementary school worked, I had one teacher for all classes besides activities till my third-grade year. You could tell from kindergarten to second grade that my teachers were more enthusiastic about other subjects than math. Then, from third grade to fifth grade, I had the same teacher whose only focus was teaching us math. Her passion and teaching style just clicked with me, and I slowly started to love the subject. When she saw this, she would give me slightly harder problems to challenge me, and I was surprised by how easily I understood concepts such as finding variable values and long division. As I went on with my education, the harder the math got, the easier I found it to learn. I did so well in it that, in my sophomore year of high school, my teacher chose me to compete in my local community college’s annual math competition for Algebra 2. Then, 2 years later, I returned to the Calculus 1 competition and placed second in the calculus portion. This settled it in for me, boosting my confidence in doing different types of math and in how easily it clicks for me. Then, with my decision to study engineering, I get to use it in all of my classes, and the math skills and knowledge I have made it easier to understand some of the concepts I am learning today. The majority of them are just math classes for engineering. My specific major allows me to combine my passion for designing and creating things with my love for math.

Growing up in a family that worked in coal mining, even though most had quit by the time I was born, shaped how I understood work, risk, and community. In my area, coal mining wasn’t just a job; it was a way of life that influenced every family. I grew up hearing stories about what happened in the deep mines, both good and bad. The miners formed close bonds underground, but there were always risks of injury or worse. One story from my Pa has stayed with me for years. Before he left coal mining, the mine hit a pocket of gas and a single spark set the shaft on fire. He got everyone out safely, but his boss told him to go back in for the equipment or lose his job. That moment showed me just how dangerous industry could be and how little protection workers sometimes had. For a long time, it made me think the industry was hopelessly unsafe. Years later, working for a coal mining company during a two-summer engineering internship gave me a unique perspective. Interacting with miners at both surface and underground sites helped me understand the complexity of their work and the challenges they face every day. The more time I spent onsite, the more I realized how essential engineering is—not just for efficiency, but for the safety of the people who risk their lives to keep our lights on. I saw how the industry needs improvement, whether through better monitoring systems, more reliable equipment, or safer ways to manage coal stockpiles and energy. Seeing these issues firsthand made me understand that STEM isn’t about technology; it’s about protecting people. This past summer, I also saw how coal affects other industries in my area through the production of metallurgical coke. Watching raw coal transform into a product essential for steelmaking helped me understand how interconnected these industries are. Decisions made in mining ripple outward, affecting manufacturing, transportation, and entire regional economies. Seeing this broader picture made me realize how much room there is for innovation, especially through mechanical engineering. Being a mechanical engineering major has given me the tools to understand how machines behave under stress, how systems fail, and how design choices directly impact human safety. It has shown me how even small improvements- better ventilation, more accurate sensors, safer equipment layouts can make a stark difference. Growing up around coal mining gave me a deep respect for the people who work in these environments, but studying engineering taught me that respect alone isn’t enough. Real change comes from designing better systems and refusing to accept unsafe conditions as inevitable. I plan to use my education to help create safer and more efficient industrial environments. Whether through improved safety protocols, better equipment design, or more effective operational planning, I want to contribute to solutions that protect workers and strengthen the industries that support my community. My goal is to help bridge the gap between traditional industries and modern engineering practices, bringing innovative ideas into spaces that have relied on the same methods for decades. Ultimately, growing up in a coal mining family didn’t just influence my interest in STEM—it gave it direction. It taught me that engineering has the power to protect, improve, and transform. And it showed me that even in the most traditional industries, there is room for innovation that honors the past while building something safer and stronger for the future.

It took me years to figure out what I wanted to do as a career. Over the years, I had different dream careers, including veterinarian, teacher, and ballerina. Then, in my sophomore year, my first year back in person after COVID, a friend asked me to join the robotics team at our vocational school, which was short on members. I joined and never left, which led me to my path in Mechanical Engineering. I fell in love with robotics, and Horizon Zero Dawn gave me the idea that maybe one day I could make a robot that could help people or the environment, which both the game and the robotics competitions inspired me to do. The on-land league my high school robotics team competed in was RDL, or Robot Drone League. Each year, the fields and tasks that you are aiming to complete are all based on real-world situations and issues. My senior year was about harvesting crops and monitoring the crops and the environment. When we were working on the robot to do the tasks, I realized that this could be used in real-world applications, which I know it is in some cases. But it led me to believe that maybe I could create something to help the environment or provide farmers with a safer alternative for monitoring their crops.