To me, legacy means to carry on the memory. I mostly associate this with memorials, but, on a smaller scale, this could mean carrying on the memory of an individual. For instance, my biological father. Steven Francis Woelfel, often referred to as Steve, was known to be a high-achieving perfectionist. With no surprise to his family, he had been accepted into the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) and provided a hefty scholarship due to his academic achievements. In 1988, he graduated with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. Before receiving this degree, he would spend his summers working as a maintenance engineer. Unfortunately, on June 7, 2004, approximately two months before my first birthday, my biological father was last seen. Since then, he has never been found. Although I was only about to turn one at the time, being raised without knowing him has greatly impacted my life. Everything I know about him was a result of my grandmother, his mother, and what was written in my baby book, as my mother found it difficult to talk about him. Being only ten months at the time of his disappearance, I have often felt detached from him. My mother married my father on February 28, 2010. Ever since then, I had always thought of my genetic dad as my biological father and my current dad as my actual father. This caused an even bigger detachment from my biological father. In addition, he was never truly acknowledged in my household during my teenage years. When we were young and would reunite with my grandmother, she would need to refrain from telling my younger sister and me about him until we could understand the situation we were in. This was the fact that the man my mother had married was our father. So, it wasn't until our teenage years that she would mention him every once in a blue moon. Even from a young age, my sister and I would notice how not having our biological father around would affect our time with his family. Compared to us, our stepsister and cousins, on my biological father's side of the family, were all older than us. Not to mention, they also had a close relationship with each other, as their parents would often meet up for church, meals, sports games, camping, etc. So, even with our grandparents and aunts' welcoming, warm, and undying love and affection, my sister and I had always felt out of place. To me, this meant the family my father knew and loved had also become a reason to feel detached. It wasn't until eighth grade that I began to remember and feel closer to my biological father. In this grade, we had a required class called Tech Ed. During this class, you would learn the concepts of STEM. I had instantly fallen in love. So, in my freshmen year of high school, I decided to enroll in the course Introduction to Tech Ed. The course was split into three sections: woodworking, metals, and computer-aided design (CAD). I was so taken by the CAD section that I was already looking into computer engineering careers. Seeing how interested I was in engineering, my mother enrolled me in the 2018 Platteville Summer Engineering Program. Here, I spent 5 days learning about the main engineering fields. I then enrolled in CAD-3D, my sophomore year, and Principles of Engineering, my junior year. To continue the legacy of my biological father, I submitted my application to MSOE, was accepted, received an MSOE academic scholarship, was welcomed into the honors class, and began studying software engineering.

Acknowledging Rosalind Franklin's predilection for math and science, her brilliance aided in the chemistry of coal, virus structure, and providing crucial information towards the structure of the Watson and Crick DNA model. Forced into the large profiled scandal of the DNA model, Franklin's career is often correlated with misogynistic colleagues and being cheated out of the 1962 Nobel Peace Prize for Physiology or Medicine, ultimately obstructing others from inquiring about her and her career. Having exhibited an intelligent, growth mindset and honorable, scientific achievements, the British chemist and x-ray crystallographer, Rosalind Franklin, is one of my favorite scientists.