Highly motivated, hardworking, innovative, creative, architectural, constructive, and eminently skilled. Those are the adjectives to describe an engineer. Those are the expectations/ standards I am going to hold myself to and I am going to meet. The field of engineering deals with the design, construction, and use of machines. That is the definition of a Mechanical Engineer. That is what I am going to pursue. Conceptualizing things and coming up with ideas is a part of my life. I flourish in art and I embrace creativity. The first time I tried something technological, was in a coding class. I became immediately enveloped in it. It became a situation where I couldn’t tell if I was finding my dream job or creating it. I came up with an idea, and plan, then executed it. I was finding my answers and not just believing answers for someone else's life. It was towards the end of the class that I realized that I was the only female in the class. 1.8% of people working in the STEM field are black women. That is a small percentage. That fact scared me a little, because why was the percentage so low? It's rare to find a black female mechanical engineer, I want to be the one who makes the percentage higher so that I can encourage more black women to do it since that percentage almost scared me away too. I began to doubt myself and my odds in this profession. Later I realized that I shouldn’t let a small percentage or any number for that matter stop me from doing what I enjoyed. All at once I started doing more engineer-related things. I didn't just have my toe in the water; I was drowning in it and I didn’t want to come up for air, because, for the first time, I felt like I could finally breathe. I finally found that one thing I wanted to do. I joined my school's Science Olympiad team and won third place out of seventeen schools for my bottle rocket, and I had to build mine in the car on the way! I signed up for a NASA TechRise program at my school and submitted a proposal with one of my classmates. Our proposal for our experiment was chosen as one of the winners in all of the United States Territories. Throughout the rest of the school year, we worked on it. At the end of the year, we sent it back to the NASA program for our flight box to be tested and received it back in my senior year of high school. The Morgan STEM scholarship will support me by being a stepping stone toward my dreams without having to worry about part of my financial challenge. I would be able to focus on my education at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte as a mechanical engineering major more freely. The Morgan STEM scholarship would also be supporting my goal to inspire other young women to major in STEM. When I become a mechanical engineer, I plan to travel to other countries and places to increase my knowledge of machinery and technology. We as humans always want to know how to make something easier, cheaper, long-lasting, and helpful not only to us but to the environment as well. I also want to inspire more black women to join this field. Because if I can do it. They can do it too.

I had of privilege of meeting the black woman who has inspired me my entire life on September 15, 2005 - the day I was born and the day I met my mother. My mother inspires me and is the person I am closest to in the world. I have not only watched her raise me, but I also have seen her overcome hardships, depression, and challenges in her work field. Despite this, she remained optimistic and a hardworking woman. She raised my siblings and me single-handedly while pursuing her college associate's degree and maintaining a job. She is a hardworking woman with unwavering diligence and optimism. Regardless of how hard things got for her, she was and is an involved and supportive mother. When I first read this question, I thought about choosing my favorite poet, Maya Angelou, because her words always motivate me. I also considered my black female guidance counselor for always supporting my educational endeavors and Ruby Bridges for trailblazing regardless of the challenges in the name of education. However, realized my mother embodies all of these things. She has trailblazed so I can have a manageable education. She supports my dreams and educational endeavors, and her words have inspired and motivated me better than anyone else because of how much of a person she means to me. Before deciding on mechanical engineering as my major, I had many aspirations. When I was 9, I wanted to be an artist, and she bought me art supplies and sketchbooks. When I was 13, I told her I wanted to be an animator, and she found a way to afford a digital sketch pad for me. Eventually, I found my true passion and told her I wanted to be a mechanical engineer; I was around 15. Even though it was not something she was interested in, she always made sure I was involved in my school’s science and technology clubs. Her actions have convinced me that if I wanted to be a fairy, my mom would have enabled me to do so. My mother has inspired me so much that I truly believe that I am a product of not only my experiences but a product of who she is as well. She is a black woman who is kind enough to everyone to raise children who are not her own; she never forgets the person she is when upset or sad. She never gives up on herself and has a generous spirit, a brilliant and wise mind, and an illustrious essence. Using her as inspiration, I will always try to be kind, never forget or give up on myself, and overcome academic and personal challenges, just like she did. I know that this mindset will take me far in my career goals and in life because I know I will never be alone. This woman has taught me to be determined and hardworking, and I am glad I have the honor of calling Andrea Garner my mother and the person who inspires me the most.