Empowerment is defined by Google as, "authority or power given to someone to do something." However, I personally find that definition much too simple to define the word. To me, empowerment is so much more. Empowerment is the confidence that comes with seeing the positive impact your actions have on others. I've always struggled with feeling "empowered." I've always been reserved and not one to take the lead. I was never quite sure what I even wanted to do. That is, until I found my love for mathematics. I had always been gifted when it came to math, or at least it seemed like it. While a lot of other kids detested the subject, it was always my most favored. I joyously took every math course required of me in high school, and then I got to senior year. In my senior year, I decided to take AP Statistics. I had already taken an AP course in the past, and while it was English [and, to me, much easier than math], I still wanted to try it. I not only loved math, but I was interested in the potential college credit if I passed the test. It was in this class that I flourished. I struggled, daily, but I never gave up. I would spend hours doing my assignments, looking up articles and videos to teach myself techniques we hadn't even covered yet. I was the student who the teacher had said would get a "guaranteed 5" on the AP exam. I helped tutor my friends or any other peers in the class who struggled with the work; it became fun for me to even teach others. However, soon my school closed down. Unexpectedly, one week before our winter break ended and our 2nd semester started, Encore High School shut down. My mom scrambled to find me a new school and I ended up at Riverside Prep. Now, this school doesn't offer AP Statistics. Instead, it has a normal-paced statistics class, which has a different course load and material. However, despite all this, I continued. I'm currently a TA for the statistics class and am able to help anyone if they ask, and while I may not get to take the AP Statistics test, I still continue learning the course as well as I can. To me, empowerment is preserving and continuing to help others even in difficult circumstances. It doesn't matter that my old school closed and I had to start at a new school with absolutely no one I know; it matters that I continued pursuing my passion for math and didn't let myself be deterred. Being empowered is vital in life, and I'm glad it's something I am.