Some of my personal goals for pursuing a trade school career, more specifically into HVAC, is to successfully develop the skills needed to take on this predominantly male field. This scholarship money will help me flourish and do away with some of the many money woes that come with pursuing a higher education. Additionally, I want to help pave the path for the younger generation of women who fail to believe they can do whatever they set their mind on. They need role models and I believe that with this scholarship, I can be one for the young girls who have no one to look up to. Enrolling into a technical school is the first step to tell the world that I do not need to fit into a box. I do not need to be like everyone else; I can step out of my comfort zone and do what is considered to be “unconventional” and still triumph over the inevitable barriers I will face. Many people today have gotten much more accepting of women working in “men jobs”, however I am not naive. I know that there will always be people who disagree with this idea and give me a more difficult time than my male counterparts. It is a sad reality, but that does not mean I will allow myself to feel threatened and make myself small to satisfy the people who doubt me. I plan to succeed with my studies and graduate from my program with esteemed academics. I am going to prove to myself that I am fully capable of taking on this challenge. This scholarship will help tremendously to determine my future as a woman in HVAC. When I was a sophomore in high school, I was given the opportunity to complete HVAC courses with my local college and graduate with an associate degree in that specific trade. Unfortunately, I did not take the risk and apply for the program. I was scared; to complete such a rigorous and unfamiliar program was scary. It did not help that I had no one to talk to about the opportunity, the only graduates and interested candidates were male. At the time I told myself that my decision to not apply and further advance my education was not influenced by the lack of women and influx of men, but rather by my internal mindset of “I’m simply not ready for this”. Looking back, I realize now that perhaps my decision to not pursue the offered program was a little more influenced by the lack of women and role models than I thought. To this day, I regret my decision but I understand that the past version of myself did what she did with the resources she had available to her at the time. Completing the HVAC program, I hope to inspire young girls and become the role model I needed back in my sophomore year of high school. The help of this scholarship will help me immensely in pursuing my personal aspirations and succeeding in being a suitable role model for young women looking to take on an untraditional role in the workforce. The world needs more women to look up to, so I plan to be one of them. I am beyond excited to begin the HVAC program offered at the accredited Lincoln Technical Institute. I have goals to reach and I plan to reach them. This scholarship will not only help pay for my education but allow me to aspire the next generation of women.