My grandmother, the strongest woman I have ever met, has always been a force in encouraging my education. When she became a single mother in the 1960s, in a city and culture not so forgiving to women, let alone Jewish women, she realized she had to fight to make a life for herself and her children. She got the fastest job she could starting as a saleswoman for a small all-natural skincare company. Fighting through adversity to bring herself to countless awards, accolades, and to vice-president of sales of the company. She saved her money, spent hours learning about financial investments and planning, and created a comfortable lifestyle for herself. After that, she pushed every woman in our family afterward to go after their own education, their own degree, and become their own breadwinner. As society progressed, this became everyone's tune, but she stayed steadfast in her goals to make us all our own people. When my own mother became a single mother to my brother and me, she agreed even more and echoed my grandmother's words every chance she got. My mother had already achieved a Master's in biochemistry, and my cousin was following her artistic dreams at one of the most prestigious colleges she could for her major, and next was my turn. I had little direction in what I wanted to study during high school. and at my time of need for a bit of my grandmother's magic encouragement, we lost her to stage IV ovarian cancer. Distracting me from school, my grades slipped, my education slipped, and some of my college hopes and dreams slipped away too. In my senior year of high school, I applied for early-admission to my dream school and was rejected. I had a safety school, an art program at a local but large university, yet was this path that my grandmother wanted for me? Not quite. On a whim, I applied to the engineering program at Drexel University. Drexel had a high acceptance rate, but a prestigious program and I thought if I could make it there, I would figure it out from there. I found out I was accepted in April of 2018, with multiple grants and scholarships, but still not enough to cover the high tuition. Taking out loans, working part-time, and utilizing Drexel's co-op program helped me to cover the cost and graduate this past June with minimal loans, and it was all worth it. I fell in love with Civil Engineering and found every challenge exciting and meaningful. I gained vital career experience through my co-ops and had 5 open job offers by the time my senior year rolled around. I had made the life that I wanted to make for myself, succeeding in school, in my career, and in my personal life, all through the passion and will of my grandmother's words. My only regret is that she never got to watch me walk across the stage, and hear my name with a "Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering" following it. I know she would be so proud of what I have accomplished. I often don't do most things for myself, but rather consider my family lineage, and fight to do more for the women who have come before me, and those who will come after me. Losing my grandmother early, however tragic, taught me the largest lesson of resilience and gave me quite a distaste for one thing, complacency.