Growing up in a small town in Ohio, I always heard about how amazing America is, and how it is the best country in the world. Personally, I have always had a hard time believing it, as I have been an avid learner, especially when it comes to history, and have seen some of the things that America has done to get ahead. Even now, it is difficult to think about all of those things, especially when you can see the roots of those choices and issues ingrained in society now. Thankfully, most of those problems have been eradicated, but there are still several issues that have impacted me. One of these issues, and the one I am trying to change is gender inequality. I know that this is a massive problem that one person, especially from a small town in Ohio, and even more since I do not plan to major in politics, can fix, but I can do my part and create some small changes that will impact people on a larger scale. One thing I do that I think helps this mission is just existing in the spaces that I do. I am a STEM major, which has always been a male-dominated field, and even in high school, I was one of only three girls in the aviation program I joined. The year before I joined, there were only two girls, so even having three was better than it had been. At first, I did notice that the boys in that class, and even the teacher, seemed to discount me, and not pay as much attention to my accomplishments and my potential because I did not fit into the gender norm. Thankfully, after a while I was able to prove that I belonged there to everyone who was involved, even becoming a volunteer at the airport museum that focuses heavily on World War Two and rebuilding the B-17 Bomber, which was what I was doing. Even down there I was treated as "fragile" and was given "easy" tasks because they thought I could not handle the bigger and "more difficult" work that everyone else was part of. After a while, however, the man who had been assigning work and tasks to me and the boy who had also become a volunteer realized that I was able to handle much more than they had originally thought. I completed the work better and faster than the other student and even ended up having to help him get his work done. This showed the people around me that I was just as good, if not better than many of the volunteers and that I could handle anything they threw my way. This leads me to why I am proud to be an American. Although there are still issues prevalent in our society, the thing I am proud of is our ability to change and overcome our differences. As I said, when I started working on the B-17 down at the museum, I was overlooked and undervalued, but over time, after I proved my worth, people changed and started believing in me, and knew that I was the same as them. This change is shown in many different ways throughout American history and culture, and these changes are what make America America in my eyes.

Aviation has always been something that I have loved, but it wasn't until recently that I realized how much I wanted to go into aviation. I have been an avid traveler for basically my whole life, whether it was Myrtle Beach, Aruba, or London, I enjoyed all of it. I have been flying to get places since I can remember, and, while I used to be scared of it, I realized that the fear I thought I had of flying was exhilaration. I love being up in the air, above everyone else, and knowing that it is such an exciting aspect of my life helps me even more. I do have some pilots in my family, but none in my direct family, so I had never even thought about being a pilot until I was struggling to decide what to go to school for when I started taking college classes as a high school junior. If I had thought flying was a viable career option for me growing up, I think I would have started a long time ago. When it showed up as a class option on my high school schedule planner, I immediately was interested. Unfortunately, I was unable to take that class that year and regret it still, but the next year (my senior year) I took it and fell in love. I was able to get many opportunities through that class, such as helping the museum that was just further down the runway restore planes, most notably the B-17 bomber from the second world war. That experience solidified my choice to go into aviation, and I started looking for colleges that offered aviation as a degree. I am now a student at Ohio University in Athens Ohio, and I wouldn't change that for a thing. I plan to become an airline pilot and maybe a manager at an airport as well with my dual major in aviation flight and aviation management. I have been fortunate enough to know what flying commercially is like, and since I enjoy it so much, it makes sense that I would want to pursue it as a career. I am so thankful that for the most part, the community has accepted me and encouraged me to continue working to get to the level I want to achieve. I think that I have even been able to help and give back to the community through volunteering at Young Eagle events (on the ground) and next year, I will be the Vice President of Women in Aviation in the Ohio University chapter. Thank you for your time and consideration!

As a person, I feel that I have made a noticeable difference in my community. Whether it has been through volunteering as a soccer coach, teaching swim lessons, lifeguarding, playing sports, or even just babysitting for different families, I think that many people know me on at least a superficial level. If I were to walk down the street, I think there would be several people who would be able to point me out and know who I was, and this is a huge accomplishment for me. When I am working with kids, I always get along with them very well, and they always like me. I’ve even gotten comments from people passing by that they recognized how good I am with kids, which is one of the reasons I have the job that I do; to work with kids and teach them things that they need to know in their lives, and just to make their lives and the lives of their parents easier. This pertains to my swim lessons and babysitting as I am able to directly impact the families and kids I work with and ensure that the kids are safe. With swim lessons, we focus on survival swimming, as well as why the rules are in place and how they protect the kids and other people as well. With babysitting, we focus on staying safe when outside, as well as making sure that the kids are having fun while they are learning about the world. One of my favorite activities has been coaching youth soccer. It is a volunteering activity that I have been involved in since my freshman year of high school, and it quickly became the highlight of my days. Originally, I had one team and it was a bit challenging to figure out what to do to keep the kids engaged and happy, and also to make sure that they weren’t just hanging on me. I learned quickly what the kids liked, and what they didn’t and I like to think that since the first few practices I have learned a lot and have made an impact on the kids that will encourage them to continue playing soccer in the future, and maybe even step up in the community to continue passing the love down to future generations. I really hope that the things that I think have made an impact really has helped some people other than myself because even though I do enjoy doing these things, the reason I do them is for the kids and the community, not for myself. If I didn't live in a small town like Urbana, I would never be able to do the things I do for my community.