I have always been interested in architecture, especially at a young age. I used to draw floor plans for barns I wanted to have, property designs for the mini-farm I wanted, and endless drawings of variations of the house I wanted to have when I grew up. Many of these drawings I still have, tucked away in my closet. They each contain a personal library with a sliding ladder, like I had seen in Beauty in the Beast. I was obsessed with the ladder and drew it in every plan I ever made for my future home. As I grew up, my love for design and the beautiful combination of mathematics and art only grew, but my free time shrunk. I didn’t have the same amount of time to just research and draw as I did when I was younger. So many new hobbies took up that time, classes were getting harder and harder, and I was struggling just to stay afloat. Once I hit sophomore and junior year, everyone started asking the question infamous to all teenagers- “ What do you want to major in?”. I hated this question more than anyone I know. Every time it was asked, I had to reply with “I don’t know yet” or “I'm still figuring it out”. I felt so much stress about it, even though I had “so much time to decide what I wanted to do”. It was such a huge decision and I just didn’t have the time or energy to find the answer. All my friends knew what they wanted to do and I was overwhelmed and overcome with frustration. That was until one day, towards the end of junior year, I was cleaning out my room with my few free hours, and I rediscovered those old plans in my closet. Lists of goals, plans for the design, how I wanted everything to be. It felt so comforting, knowing that the younger me had already made plans for the future, I’d just forgotten them. Rediscovering those drawings led me down a rabbit hole of researching architecture and drawing up new plans, with my new favorite things. The one constant with every new design was still the library with the sliding ladder. Now when people ask me my plans for the future, I can say with some sense of certainty that I plan to be an architect. Once I become an architect, I am determined to create change in the way architecture affects the world. In my small town over the years, I have seen countless fields taken over by real estate firms to build large developments. Watching the fields and old farmhouses turning into developments and roundabouts has been tough, and watching the natural world around me slowly receding has been difficult to watch. Creating sustainable and unique designs that incorporate the world around me, aside from copy+paste crammed industrial buildings will hopefully help people create a sense of self within their space and appreciate nature.

I have always been interested in architecture, especially at a young age. I used to draw floor plans for barns I wanted to have, property designs for the mini-farm I wanted, and endless drawings of variations of the house I wanted to have when I grew up. Many of these drawings I still have, tucked away in my closet. They each contain a personal library with a sliding ladder, like I had seen in Beauty in the Beast. I was obsessed with the ladder and drew it in every plan I ever made for my future home. As I grew up, my love for design and the beautiful combination of mathematics and art only grew, but my free time shrunk. I didn’t have the same amount of time to just research and draw as I did when I was younger. So many new hobbies took up that time, classes were getting harder and harder, and I was struggling just to stay afloat. Once I hit sophomore and junior year, everyone started asking the question infamous to all teenagers- “ What do you want to major in?”. I hated this question more than anyone I know. Every time it was asked, I had to reply with “I don’t know yet” or “I'm still figuring it out”. I felt so much stress about it, even though I had “so much time to decide what I wanted to do”. It was such a huge decision and I just didn’t have the time or energy to find the answer. All my friends knew what they wanted to do and I was overwhelmed and overcome with frustration. That was until one day, towards the end of junior year, I was cleaning out my room with my few free hours, and I rediscovered those old plans in my closet. Lists of goals, plans for the design, how I wanted everything to be. It felt so comforting, knowing that the younger me had already made plans for the future, I’d just forgotten them. Rediscovering those drawings led me down a rabbit hole of researching architecture and drawing up new plans, with my new favorite things. The one constant with every new design was still the library with the sliding ladder. Now when people ask me my plans for the future, I can say with some sense of certainty that I plan to be an architect. Once I become an architect, I am determined to create change in the way architecture affects the world. In my small town over the years, I have seen countless fields taken over by real estate firms to build large developments. Watching the fields and old farmhouses turning into developments and roundabouts has been tough, and watching the natural world around me slowly receding has been difficult to watch. Creating sustainable and unique designs that incorporate the world around me, aside from copy+paste crammed industrial buildings will hopefully help people create a sense of self within their space and appreciate nature.

Math feels routine to me and I appreciate that it is always logical. The logic side of math is relaxing to me knowing that I don't have to interpret some way as to why something works, I know it will. It encourages good problems solving skills which are necessary in the real world. Math gives an explanation to everything around us. Something about the logic and consistency of math is relaxing and calming to me. I appreciate that it is straightforward but also gives some wiggle room to figure problems out your own way. I love the challenge of a difficult problem and finding the answer after a long time of working out a problem is so rewarding. I love my math teachers as well because without them I would have come to enjoy math as much as I do. Everyone in my class has made learning enjoyable and they have helped me choose to love math. Math has always been there through everything it is so enriching. Teaching math to the younger generation can only lead to good things. I can connect with younger siblings by helping them with their struggles with math homework. Overall math has helped me in my life experiences.

Feminism is not working to get equality for solely women. Feminism in my own terms is the striving for equality amongst EVERYONE, not shoving others down to get ahead. In some instances, "feminists" take it too far and step on others' necks to become "equal". As women, we should understand how it feels not to be taken seriously, we should be able to empathize with others who have been oppressed. We should work to help nobody feel how we feel and have felt since we understand the pain. By putting ourselves on a pedestal, we move our oppression onto someone else and make them feel how we have felt. As a society, we should have equality in different traditionally masculine things such as STEM. By trying to gain equality, it can be taken too far and can become hypocritical to the entirety of the feminist movement. One woman who inspires me is Sojourner Truth. She fought for equal rights amongst all races and genders in the 19th century. Being a Black woman in her time period, she would have been persecuted by those who are sexist and those who are racist. She was a former slave, so the fear of being caught and put back into the slave system must have been terrifying. The whole world seemed to be against her. Despite this adversity, she persisted and spoke out about her cause. Her poem “Ain’t I A Woman” addresses the gender and race based discrimination she faced every day and it disproved many discriminatory ideas. She fully knew the backlash that could come to her, the death threats, but she still spoke her mind, and that is inspirational. In my own community, I attempt to contribute to the feminist movement by joining clubs and working hard in school. I work to be a good person who wishes for equal treatment. I attempt to be kind and assertive, working to prove my points. Many of my schools students can be discriminatory towards minorities and it does sometimes feel as though it will never stop. The comments my female classmates receive, “you’re good for a girl” or “I’m sure you love cooking because women belong in the kitchen”, are disgusting and are so common that many times they get laughed off. As a woman, I know that the world can look down on me, but my goal is to prove my independence and intelligence.