"May I apply internationally?" I asked as I watched Mumma do the dishes. "Your Papa said no," she replied morosely. “But, you know how much I loved living in Singapore. I thrive in the big cities, as I love the opportunities they provide” I pleaded. From her father to her brother to now her husband, men always made her decisions for her. I felt frustrated as I thought about possibly suffering the same fate. Ironically, my mom taught me how to be stubborn about my education, rights, and future, as she's been an essential influence in my resilience. Her indirect support aids me in participating in meaningful activities. When Papa said I shouldn’t waste my time volunteering, I looked at online options. But the national and international organizations initially turned me due to my physical distance from them. I felt discouraged, but Mumma encouraged me to fight to earn a place within each non-profit by reminding me how much education, healthcare, and female empowerment mean to us. Today, I enjoy being a youth leader in Asha Jyothi and GirlSpring While applying to take courses at community college, my Papa's unwillingness to provide funding gave me another opportunity to problem-solve with resilience. With Mumma's help, I found vocal and art competitions to participate in, which raised $5,600 for my online tuition. Unfortunately, participating in computer and web programming classes proved harder than paying the tuition. I felt out of place as a 16-year-old Indian female in a classroom full of 20-something-year-old white males. Once again, I utilized my resilience to stay determined to create a sense of belonging in the lecture hall and feel a sense of purpose while completing the assignments. Feeling discouraged from pursuing STEM careers because of the lack of representation inspired me to create a STEM program for elementary school girls. I made an opportunity for young girls who, like me, might be interested in STEM but are reluctant to hone their passion because of fear of equipping them with the same resilience my mother instilled in me. Growing up, I watched my Mumma make the best of her limited choices. For instance, she was coerced into a marriage; however rather than being dismayed, she immersed herself in being a fantastic mother to her children. Thus, I refuse to take "no" for an answer and see refusal as an opportunity to find another way. The sweetest example of her discrete approval was when she opened the kitchen drawer and gave me a wad of cash. "Use this money to apply for out-of-country colleges." A smile spread across my face. While our methods of displaying our resilience differ, we both have a fierce, strong-willed nature. Her silent presence and quiet-yet-impactful encouragement have shaped me into a resilient young woman.

From her father to her brother to now her husband, men always made her decisions for her. I felt frustrated as I thought about possibly suffering the same fate. Ironically, my mom taught me how to be stubborn about my education, rights, and future, as she's been an essential influence in my resilience. Her indirect support aids me in participating in meaningful activities. When Papa said I shouldn't waste my time volunteering, I looked at online options. But the national and international organizations initially turned me due to my physical distance from them. I felt discouraged, but Mumma encouraged me to fight to earn a place within each non-profit by reminding me how much education, healthcare, and female empowerment mean to us. Today, I enjoy being a youth leader in Asha Jyothi and GirlSpring. While volunteering for Asha-Jyothi, our team faced scrutiny from some community members due to a controversial campaign. We distributed pads in a middle school in a rural village in India and answered questions about sexual health. The village's chief and other men were unhappy with us teaching impressionable young girls. Rather than discontinuing the campaign, I utilized my knowledge of Indian culture and ability to speak Hindi to present myself as an ally and negotiated to continue the campaign by replacing the sexual health seminar with an optional menstrual hygiene discussion. While applying to take courses at community college, my Papa's unwillingness to provide funding gave me another opportunity to problem-solve with resilience. With Mumma's help, I found vocal and art competitions to participate in, which raised $5,600 for my online tuition. Unfortunately, participating in computer and web programming classes proved harder than paying the tuition. I felt out of place as a 16-year-old Indian female in a classroom full of 20-something-year-old white males. Once again, I utilized my resilience to stay determined to create a sense of belonging in the lecture hall and feel a sense of purpose while completing the assignments. Feeling discouraged from pursuing STEM careers because of the lack of representation inspired me to create a STEM program for elementary school girls. I made an opportunity for young girls who, like me, might be interested in STEM but are reluctant to hone their passion because of fear of equipping them with the same resilience my mother instilled in me. Growing up, I watched my Mumma make the best of her limited choices. For instance, she was coerced into marriage; however, rather than being dismayed, she immersed herself in being a fantastic mother to her children. I want to be an engineer because I enjoy the thrill of problem-solving and the complexity of critical thinking. The life experiences above were all a result of how experiencing refusal has instilled grit in me. Rather than deter me from majoring in STEM, the rejections helped me realize my talent for thinking outside the box, using critical thinking skills, and executing a project. I want to use my engineering skills to create opportunities for women.

The peeling paint revealed the broken bones of the 106-year-old building where thirty Kashmiri girls struggled to find space on the classroom floor. Clustered behind shattered glass windows were young women wearing red ribbons on Dutch braids, blue shapeless salwar kameez, and a white dupatta around their bosoms. Revisiting my hometown after eight years of living abroad made me realize that Lucknow's culture regarding the role of women remained unchanged. Instead of learning about physics, chemistry, and mathematics, their curriculum focused on home economics as they passively waited for their fathers to arrange marriages. I saw an opportunity to improve the quality of these girls' education in my hometown. Through Asha-Jyothi, a non-profit organization, I started a school renovation initiative in Lucknow. This experience helped me realize the importance of increasing accessibility to education for females, especially in mathematics and sciences, to expand their educational curriculum and the choices for their futures. In four months, I garnered financial support and scaled the campaign by building a 10-person team to raise $10,000 Surprisingly, I noticed parallels between my situation and the Kashmiri girls' situation. We both felt discouraged because we lacked the resources to further our knowledge. As the only freshman and girl in my AP Computer Science class, I lacked a sense of belonging. There were limited resources at my school; no female CS teachers, a community of like-minded female students, or any clubs I could join. I decided to be proactive by enrolling in courses at Community College and participating in the women's engineering and computer science clubs. Energized by my love of Computer Science, I interned at the National Hall of Fame Inventors for eight weeks to introduce elementary school students to STEM concepts. I modified the curriculum for the varying age groups, engaging students in interactive and hands-on lessons such as paper roller coasters to teach them about force and motion. After this experience, I felt inspired to create my non-profit, Garden of Stem, which addresses young girls' lack of confidence, representation, and passion in STEM, something I knew about firsthand. Working with elementary teachers, I utilized the Texas education standards to design the curriculum. Secondly, I included real-world applications and possible careers. I guided the students through each workbook chapter to introduce them to female representation and how STEM can be applied. Lastly, I partnered with Raytheon Technology to provide access to unique resources and fund the printing of workbooks that I wrote. Upon witnessing the positive support I garnered from the students, mentors, and sponsors, I furthered my influence on early STEM education by starting a Girls Who Code chapter at a local middle school. I work closely with the team at Girls Who Code, the computer science teacher, and the administration to host weekly programming sessions. Like Garden of STEM, I introduced at least one woman in the field in each lesson to model careers, journeys, and female success. From being a small-town girl in Lucknow to a young woman in America, I have experienced two drastically different worlds. I'm excited to continue implementing creative problem-solving strategies to improve female education, especially in STEM. No matter where life takes me, a city in India or a suburb in America, I am determined to improve girls' lives because it opens up opportunities for them. Whether it is school renovation to enhance education for an ethnic minority in India or stimulating change in my community by starting non-profit STEM education programs at elementary and middle schools, I am determined to introduce girls to a supportive community and encourage them to be unafraid to explore their interests.