In simple terms, my drive and reasoning for pursuing a higher education is to change the status quo for my daughter. I want to show her that you can be an amazing mom while maintaining a fulfilling career. I am a Crash Safety Performance Engineer at Nissan working full time to make automobiles as safe as possible in the unfortunate event of an accident. As a mother, safety of my daughter is always top priority and being a mom gives me a unique perspective. My profession allows me to protect not only my family but families all around the globe. The decisions I make protect someone else's son or daughter, mother or father, friend and family. Being a mother has made me a better safety engineer. In my mind everyday is the following question "Is this vehicle safe enough for my daughter?". Without the unique perspective of a mother protecting her baby, I doubt I would have the same level of drive in my day to day work. Determination and drive isn't everything though. There is a limit to how much impact I can have without more education, which is why I have decided to go back to school to get my Master's degree. The automotive field is dominated by the male gender, especially in upper management and technical specialist roles. I want to change that. I want to show that a working mother can be an amazing present mom, while maintaining a technical role that makes a huge impact on society. After all, I'm not sure of a force much greater than the love of a Momma Bear. My experience thus far with going back to school has been tough. A mother's work is never done. I get up early to get everything ready for my little one to go to daycare, work my full time job, come home and do activities to be present and spend time with my family, and once she's tucked away in bed, finally start the school work. Some day's its falling asleep while watching my lecture and having to restart from the beginning. Some day's its crying in private because I am not understanding something. Sometimes it is asking for extensions on due dates. Some days its yelling with joy that I figured something out. Even with the hard hours, it is all worth it. Each assignment is making me a better engineer. Each test is making me that much closer to a technical specialist. Each lecture is giving me a new skill that I can apply that will help me save someone's life. One day I hope to be the woman my daughter looks up to and says "Of course I can do it Mom. After all, I am your daughter" I want to teach her to never be afraid to put in the work for the things that mean the most to you. I want to teach her to not let society norms hold her back. For me, actions speak louder than words so its my time to put in the work and show her just how amazing women can be.