To me, feminism means the advocation for equal rights for women, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, or anything else. Throughout history, there have been many activists and inspirational people, but former Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (RBG) stands out amongst the rest. Growing up, she had her challenges. She was an avid learner, but when it came to post-secondary education, it became difficult to receive a law degree. Back in that day, women often stayed in the house doing chores, meanwhile, the husband worked and furthered his education. Despite this, she pushed to alter this norm and did go to University and has since become a feminist icon. I strive to be like Ruth Bader Ginsburg, fighting societal norms for equality and not letting obstacles get in my way. She worked hard consistently, stood out with her extraordinary skills and became a strong, liberal Supreme Court Justice. RBG has positively influenced my viewpoint on feminism, in that I have joined an activist club at my school. With the organization of the club GirlUp at my school last year, I knew I would want to join and be able to emphasize gender equality. This organization is a part of the United Nations, and is worldwide, consistently supporting women. Last year, my subset of the club centered on gender-based violence, due to an interest in helping women in Afghanistan. Through events we hosted to raise money, we donated a significant portion of it to this cause. Additionally, we used the money to purchase feminine products to supply all of the bathrooms, that way those who can not afford products have access to them. On the other hand, this year I have become the club secretary and we have been focusing on equality in STEM. This topic is very important to me, considering I have been taking engineering courses throughout all of high school, and find myself being one of few, if not the only, girl in a class filled with guys. I have had to adapt and overcome obstacles, such as my ideas not being taken into consideration to the extent of other people, yet I work hard and do not let one challenge end my STEM career. Just like Ruth Bader Ginsburg, I fight peacefully for my right to do what I want. I have learned so much about engineering and look forward to attending Arizona State University to major in mechanical engineering and won't let an obstacle get in my way.

My entire life has revolved around technology. At a young age, my father introduced me to soldering. Over the next few summers, I completed soldering projects, such as a shocker and alarm clock. Through learning about this, I also learned about what each component did and how it works. Continuing my STEM interests, I joined a First Lego League (FLL) robotics team. In this league, you participate in teams and create and program a Lego robot to complete certain tasks, meanwhile also doing a project on improving an issue in the environment. In addition to this, I took 5 computing classes in middle school, learning about coding and digital animation. One whole year was spent on coding, and I focused on HTML, but also touched JavaScript and CSS. Come to high school, I registered to take the CTE Engineering program, with classes in Introduction to Engineering, Principles of Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, and Engineering Design and Development over my four years in high school respectively. These courses taught me lots of skills, ranging from coding to developing complicated Excel programs to complete necessary calculations. On top of this, I also continued the FIRST organization at the next level. I have participated each of my high school years in the First Robotics Competition (FRC) where we create and program robots, but instead of it being out of Lego, it is out of metal and plastic components. Furthermore, from the release of the year's challenge, teams have a mere six weeks to design and create the robot before competitions. I have learned many skills relating to CAD and 3D printing and using varying power tools to manufacture parts. These important life skills will help me in the future with possible internships and jobs, due to being familiar with how things work. My whole life I have been involved with technology and the engineering field and want to continue learning about it. While most of my STEM education has been in the classroom, I have also took it upon myself to learn on my own and further my interests. I was taught in class how to use a program called ARCGIS, a digital mapping software, but I found myself exploring the program on my own time to develop maps of varying data. Putting my skills together, I received an honorable mention for an Arizona-based competition for compiling data into a map and proving an issue within society and recommendations on how to fix it. I have loved every minute of working with technology and engineering, and never want to stop furthering my STEM education.

I know this one All Too Well. Taylor Swift, the absolute music icon, has released so many influential songs, but this one stands out. This was a rerecording of song she previously released; however, she had issues with the contract she was in, so she stood up for herself and left it, resulting in her needing to release all of her music again. In addition to that, the lyrics stand out and help me get through times when I am struggling. From the lines "and I might be okay, but i'm not fine at all," to "I'd like to be my old self again," reminate with me and helping to teach me that it is perfectly fine to not be okay. Society is always praising for everything to be perfect, or to hide our flaws, but our flaws are what makes us unique and should never be diminished. Taylor Swift iterates this throughout All Too Well inspiring me to be one with my emotions.