I would not be the woman I am today with the accolades and achievements I have earned if it were not for my hardworking, dedicated, and patient mother, Erica Nicole Watkins. When I was younger, I was immensely jealous of the students whose parents were able to attend every recital, sports game, or social event at school. I held an extremely regrettable grudge against my mother for not being home as much during my preteen years, comparing her to my friends' mothers, who were always there to bake us cookies and take us to the mall when I stayed the night. I did not understand the sacrifices she had made and all of the work she was putting in to support my siblings and me as a single mother. My mother did not have the privilege of attending secondary school. She did not have the advantages that holding a degree or the skills that came with earning such brought when securing high-paying jobs. So, to make up for this, she worked twice as hard as the degree-holding Caucasian parents of my peers. Working gruelingly long shifts at multiple jobs just to put a roof over my siblings and I's heads and bring smiles to our faces on Christmases and birthdays. The only thing my mother has ever been stern with me about me is my academics. She values higher education and knowledge as she feels that education will help my siblings and me achieve success and secure high-paying jobs so that we do not have to struggle as much as she did when raising us. As I was struggling to find the motivation to do an assignment one night, she sat me down and told me one thing I will never forget; "To be educated is to hold the key to the world," she continued, "Never put anything above your academics Pumpkin, I never want to have to see you or your siblings working as hard as I do to make ends meet because of your lack of education." Without this advice and constant support from my mother, I would not have had the intense desire to succeed as much as I did during high school. I would not have had the confidence and motivation to enter a male-dominated field as an African American woman. Currently, only around 5.8% of all engineers are Black Women. My mother's unwavering work ethic and dedication to supporting her children inspire me and will continue to inspire me as a Black Woman in Engineering. I plan on earning a Bachelor's in Chemical Engineering at the University of California, Irvine. With this degree, I intend to work alongside pharmacists and pharmacologists to develop medical compounds that allow for the development of medicinal drugs with fewer side effects. Only 9% of all medicinal drugs have less than ten side effects. Such statistics are incredibly disheartening as one seeking treatment should not have to worry about the risks and side effects of something created to help them. The possibility of being able to make a change in the pharmaceutical world alongside the steadfast support and inspiration from my diligent African-American mother motivates me every day. It will forever push me to keep working towards my goals despite the obstacles and challenges I will face as an African-American woman in STEM.