The flames could be seen from the freeway. My brother sits in the front seat next to me, asleep. The first rays of sunlight peek through the smoke-filled skies as we pass under the 2 freeway in Eagle Rock. It was 5:30 am. We had just left the two-bedroom apartment shared by 6 of us, just as we had been doing for weeks. Our destination? The YMCA back home. My brother and I were the first ones there in the morning and the last ones to leave at night. Being displaced, crammed in with my family, far from school, and with no idea if our home would still be standing each morning was challenging. I couldn’t do anything at the moment to stop it. But what I could do was help stop its effects. For me, this choice didn’t even seem like a choice. It was something I had to do. My community, the same one where I met my best friends and knew the store owners by name, was literally burning in the Eaton Fire. But I think part of my choice was what I had found there. On those January days, I was seeing people whom I hadn't seen in years. Middle school friends, retired welders at the Rose Float barn, old teachers, and the environment I had always loved, all at once made fragile. I want to become an engineer who builds solutions protecting both my community and Mother Nature. For places and events like that all over the world. The service I was doing was not just one of necessity, providing clean water and toiletries. It was one of connection. Although I kept up my grades and progression, I was living so far from my school and focusing my energy on the importance of the situation at hand. It wasn't about the classwork for me anymore; it was about my lifework. During the haze, I learned how much I truly value my community. For weeks, we couldn't go to our house, but we could still go to our home. This place, these people, have created the Frances Farnam who is now working toward a degree. I represent the connection of the community around me, our resilience, and pride, and that will be with me no matter where my journey takes me. In my career, I want to combine my love of tinkering and engineering with my commitment to sustainability. This is why I am pursuing Environmental Engineering. I am inspired by a future I can be part of the solution, engineering and implementing practices for our climate.

In the peak of covid, the California summer was hot. My brothers and I would lay around our house, trying to find the coolest spots or spraying water on our faces. My dad didn’t like seeing us being “lazy”, but even he had to admit, it was too hot to be doing anything. Only part of our house had air conditioning, so I would sleep on the couch, enjoying the feeling of cooler air on my skin. After the first couple weeks, I think my parents decided they had enough. They planned this spur of the moment trip. We were getting out. We were going camping. For the next 5 weeks. Our first night was spent at one of our main stomping grounds. It really did start off like any other camping trip. I remember the morning after, as we were all loading up, my youngest brother asked if it was time to go home. My mom said no, and he started to cry. It was the first of many tears shed. It was a crazy routine, spending hours in the same car with four people who hadn't showered in days, to running and speeding to set up our camp. We would spend the days we didn't travel on steep trails, lakes, or rivers, splashing mud at one another. There were moments where I felt exhausted, and yearned for the simple routine of just doing nothing. But I was a kid. Tiredness was fixed with a five-minute power nap. Gradually, the wilderness became less of a challenge and more of a sanctuary. From the pink sunrise over Glacier National Park, the joy of finding the perfect spot for a secret hideout, or feeling the cool breeze on my face after a long day of hiking. The feeling of walking and seeing all the animals go through their day-to-day lives by reminded me of how disconnected I had become from nature. Over the course of that month, I realized how much I missed it. In a world filled with noise and constant distractions, the outdoors offered me a rare kind of clarity. This trip forever changed my relationship with nature. But the trip also opened my eyes to something even more profound: the importance of conservation. What started as a family bonding trip, where I was just hoping to survive the physical challenges of the trail, evolved into something far deeper. This experience sparked my interest in working with the environment, which continuous to guide my aspirations today. I aspire to work in a field that can be part of the solution to the growing concerns, and help save what was my safe space as a kid. Now, a lot of the camping spots we visited on that trip have been stripped of water due to drought, or deforested to fill the growing housing crisis. I believe there is a solution out there, and thanks to this experience, I am determined to find it.

"It’s [Frances's] courage that is paving the way to motivate others to make a difference," - Esmeralda Cisneros, NBC LA This quote sums up my passion project—empowering young adults to realize their potential. At 11, I worked hard picking and selling grapefruit to buy my first car, a '76 Porsche 914. Electric cars were definitely the future so my goal was simple-restore it and convert it to electric on my YouTube channel, Tinkergineering I had never thought this small dream would grow into something much bigger. Many young adults lack confidence and through my journey, I’m showing that success isn’t about starting knowing everything; it’s about learning and being brave enough to try. By documenting my process —from major uncertainties to engineering solutions—I hope to challenge the limitations teens believe we're bound by. When I realized I’d need to weld to fix the rust on my car, I took a chance and spoke to Dick Sappington, the head welder at our community’s rose float barn where I would volunteer. He became my welding mentor, and showed me how to weld every Sunday. Soon, I could make full-penetration welds and replace the rusted panels. Later, I reached out to Whitesell from 914Rubber (914-part manufacturer), who not only helped me restore the car but became a key adviser for my YouTube channel. His marketing expertise has been crucial in helping me target and grow my audience. The skills they taught me were more than technical—they showed me the power of manageable steps, creativity, and focused thinking. Learning more about sustainable technology and how to come up with solutions has been paired with my love for the outdoors, drawing me into the field of Environmental Engineering. And by documenting my STEM journey, I hope to inspire fellow young people to take these risks and work toward what they believe in too. I want them to see that success isn’t reserved for a lucky few—it’s something anyone can achieve. The future is in our hands. “She’s our future.” – Mike Spagnola, President and CEO of SEMA

Do you know how strange it is that most people drink another animal's "breastmilk" regularly? Although I initially became vegan with my family when I was a kid, about 7 years old, it recently has become something I feel really strongly about. The food industry, especially in the US, is becoming more and more toxic and dangerous for people. I am not an expert, but there are some things that I can grasp. Number one; vegans are looked at as strange for not fitting into the status quo, but when you think about what the 'norm' for US culture, it makes sense why we don't follow it. Drinking another animal's milk, the primary function is to create strong baby cows. Little Timmy here will have strong bones, like the cow whose nutrients he is absorbing, rather than human nutrients. Also, many people have a reduced ability to process lactose, a sugar found in milk, in comparison to when they are infants. If everyone hunted their food, like in early civilizations, it wouldn't be as problematic (this is an example and I know, realistically, people couldn't hunt their food on a day-to-day basis in the same world as nine to five). However, these animals live under so much stress, and we are consuming the meat with cortisol and adrenaline, which alters the nutrition of eating meat for the worse. I think that the way in which these animals are prepared and stored needs to undergo some dramatic change before anybody should ever start touching meat again. My family and I have always had a large garden, trying to become as self-sustaining as possible. At one point, we had 3 huge hydroponic beds, 50 strawberry towers, and buckets at the bottom of each one to collect extra water, which had anything from potatoes to radishes to carrots. Selling the excess at farmer's markets through a co-op was how I was able to pay for my car, a work in progress but I am working on converting it to electric to lessen my climate impact. I want to be able to prove and show how eating plants isn't just an alternative, it's a better alternative to eating meat. I always want to have a garden and a compost everywhere I live. I know that it isn't always possible, but I want to make an effort. Even just having a compost, where you can put all your food waste, because no meat is present (meat can't go in compost), and since we've had a compost, our trash has decreased by almost half! As I was writing this, I debated not submitting it and thinking all of this was strange and weird and just overall "too much". But when you lay it all out, it makes sense. I believe in the ability for one to make personal choices with what they do, but I believe that all these choices should be well-informed ones.