From a young age, I have always been excited at the prospect of a challenge. As Confucius famously stated, “If you are the smartest person in the room, you are in the wrong room.” Without challenge, there is no growth. If things get easy, you must change your circumstances. Throughout my school experience thus far, academics have been the opposite of a challenge. However, I have always been curious, and when I wasn’t learning things in school, I would take it upon myself to learn independently. From reading books about the depths of space to examining cells with a microscope I received for my birthday, learning has always been a huge part of who I am. Even now that I’m in high school, I am taking advanced classes in my own time, trying to grow my knowledge. Intelligence without hard work doesn’t lead to greatness, but both of them combined can. While I find most subjects interesting, I have always been especially fascinated by STEM. It provides a unique challenge that other subjects simply don’t have. I love the thrill of solving a hard math problem, or finally understanding how something works. I love math, and I find the field of aerospace engineering to be particularly exciting. However, in 2012, only 10% of aerospace engineers were female (Forbes.com). Instead of this scaring me away, I like to look at it as a challenge. A way to break boundaries and shatter ceilings. I love proving to others that I have what it takes. And what better way to prove everyone wrong than to do what they never thought was possible? However, none of this is even a possibility without an excellent education. I am extremely fortunate to have parents that have instilled in me from a young age the value of learning. I truly believe that education is one of the most important qualities a person can have, and would never want to take it for granted. Without an aerospace engineering degree, there is no way I could get my dream job working with rockets. I need to take the appropriate classes to learn everything I can. Besides, I can hardly wait to take specialized classes about things I am passionate about! Overall, I have high standards for myself and enjoy setting ambitious and challenging goals to work towards. I would like to work at NASA or SpaceX and be a part of revolutionary innovation, such as sending people to Mars. I love STEM because it is full of new challenges that can be solved in innovative ways, and I want to devote my career to doing just that.