“One good thing about music, when it hits you feel no pain,”. These are the first lyrics that sing through my mind whenever I’m asked why I love music. Trenchtown Rock was a song I discovered a bit later in my journey of listening, analyzing, and utterly enjoying Bob Marley’s music. The song stumbled upon one of my Spotify playlists a couple of years ago while jogging along tree-lined streets covered with fallen Autumn leaves. As soon as the first snare hit rang, the punchy reggae bassline, Bob Marley’s conviction as he sang the lyrics, and smooth harmonies of the backup singers enveloped my soul with a feeling of warmth. I had to stop jogging to let myself fully experience the feeling the song was giving me. I never felt anything quite like it, it was as if I needed to hear that exact song at that exact moment. In just a couple of sentences, Bob Marley explained my lifelong love for music. As I composed myself enough to jog again, it was as if the sun got a little brighter, the sky turned an even deeper blue, and the fallen leaves sparkled. Trenchtown Rock is so special to me because it helped me recognize the transformative qualities of music and inspired me to make music one of my greatest passions. Soon after listening to Trenchtown Rock, I started self-teaching the keyboard and guitar, self-studying AP Music Theory, and practicing songwriting almost every day. My dream is to one day have someone feel like my music has soothed their soul, the same way Trenchtown Rock did mine.

Albeit the gender gap in STEM fields across the world is alarmingly high, the gap in Africa is particularly pronounced due to bias and discrimination, socio-environmental issues, negative attitudes towards STEM, and lack of opportunities. On the whole continent, women account for only 30% of researchers in all subject areas. According to UNESCO, even though an estimated 2.5 million new engineers and technicians are needed in sub-Saharan Africa to achieve key Millennium Development Goals, women account for only 7 to 12% of all engineering students. As a 16-year-old growing up between the United States and Sub-Saharan Africa, I can see the contributing factors for the lack of African women in STEM all around me through ideologies of traditional gender roles and lack of spaces for women to learn about STEM fields. But that doesn’t deter me from my passion for programming. I’ve always loved critical thinking, problem-solving, and being creative. Programming allows me to combine all those key skills in an engaging way. My passion for programming is the reason why I hope to pursue a career in Computer Science and eventually create a non-profit to help African girls in my community learn how to program to help close the STEM gender gap in Africa. As the Director-General of UNESCO, Irian Bokova once said, "No country today can afford to leave aside 50 % of its creative genius, 50 % of its innovation, 50 % of its economic drivers. This is why gender equality in [STEM] is so important”. By creating a dedicated space for girls to learn programming and providing access to career opportunities, I hope I can make an actionable change within my community to eventually make all of Africa more technologically creative, innovative, and economically stable. Using my drive for programming and change, I truly believe that I can accomplish this ambitious dream and create an everlasting impact on my community.