I've always been my own harshest critic. And in my freshman year when I joined my high school robotics team, this didn’t get much better. STEM is a male-dominated field and that was reflected in my team. It was difficult for me to present myself as confident when I was being constantly overshadowed by people with more experience—real or perceived— but in a moment of confidence, I decided to try to prove my skills. I tried out to be the driver of our robot at competitions and our team’s mechanical lead during my sophomore year. While I achieved these two roles I went after, more leadership did not mean more support. When we made it to the World Championship, we were faced with the top 600 teams in the world, many of which had millions of dollars in resources. How could our scrappy robot and my shaky confidence compete with teams that were backed by NASA? They had plenty of mentors— something we lacked— that assisted them, unlike our student-led team. And I was responsible for controlling this roughly constructed robot in every competitive match. It is an incredible amount of pressure to carry alone, and as a teenage girl in a male-dominated field, the stakes felt even higher. Every mistake, every loss, I blamed myself completely. But my Coach, Cordell, was there consistently uplifting my confidence. He forced me to question the belief that I wasn’t good enough, saying “Don’t undermine your skill, make the most of what we have.” Although I had doubts, I continued to push as if I didn't. Our robot couldn’t match world-class teams offensively, so I pivoted to defense, a strategy most dismissed as useless or impractical. But even unconventional paths lead somewhere. Everyone, including me, didn’t believe this could get anyone far, yet Cordell had faith, and his main job was to instill this faith in me. By analyzing opponents’ movements and routines and developing tactics to disrupt their cycles I broke the stereotypical expectation behind defense. And finally, one team was able to recognize my potential. One of the top three teams internationally asked me to be their teammate for the international playoffs. I saw how far the strategy combined with my driving skills pushed this new adaptation of the game. Everyone else was awestruck, but for me, I had never felt more relaxed and confident than I did at that moment. Now, during the World Championship, everything was changing. My eyes were finally open to my skill. Before our semifinal match, an interviewer pulled me aside and asked me to share my story. I’m usually reserved, but in that moment—standing in front of 30,000 people and thousands more watching online—I found my voice. Out of the top teams internationally, I was the one being watched. I was the one being sought out for and it was because I was changing the game. Yet, even in this moment of triumph, reminders of what I fought against lingered. People from around the world would come to our pit, asking where “he” was—the assumed man behind our skill. The general assumption is that success in the engineering world was from men. But instead of letting it fuel my self-doubt, I stood up, not just for myself, but for all the other women who’d been overlooked. The looks on people’s faces told me I was doing something bigger than robotics. And finally, after seeing the pouring confetti, the group hug from my team, and the chants of “MVP” following my name, I did it. We won the World Championship.

I was in fifth grade when my social studies teacher introduced the idea of a LEGO robotics team. From that moment, my interest was piqued. This led me to research the high schools in my area, searching for one with the best robotics team. This led me to Central High. I started on the beginner team, a team designed to introduce us to robotics and build skills, but we had no mentors or leadership and were left to fend for ourselves for the most part. Additionally, as one of the very few females, it was challenging to create a space for my voice and the voices of other females to be heard in a very male-dominated environment. Because I wasn’t getting any instruction that wasn’t unsolicited advice from my male peers, I resorted to teaching myself and developed the ability to problem solve and strategize, skills that led me to advance past the rookie team and become the first female and youngest driver of central high school’s robotic team, outperforming the seniors as a sophomore. As soon as I joined the Robolancers my drive coach came up with his strategy--- a plan to win the World Robotics championship in five years. I won it in two. In the season that we won, it was clear we had a robot that was, at best, average. We were faced with robots that were better than ours, and I, as the driver, had to find a way to bridge that performance gap. By creating a strategy that played to the strengths we had, and turned our weaknesses into advantages. I worked with the entire team, taking on a leadership role, creating an inclusive space, delegating tasks, and educating others on my team about the ways I had problem-solved and strategized, leading the discussion in creating a strategy that conforms to all members of the team. It was through this, and my driving that we won the Robotics World Championship in my Junior year. Now this experience wasn’t just a highlight of high school, it changed how I viewed and approached life. I learned how to build people’s individuality while still working together as a team. It also shaped what I want to do in the future. I plan to major in Mechanical Engineering so I can keep solving real problems and designing solutions that make everyday life better for people. Whether it’s something that improves accessibility or offers even a small convenience, I want to use engineering as a way to help others. My experience in building a large robot to solve tasks allowed me to have the ability to approach things in so many different ways. I also expect to eventually integrate business into my education, so I can help reach people on a larger scale. Beyond just creating things, I want to continue using my leadership to advocate for equity in STEM. I’ve already helped shift the dynamics on my robotics team, we now have more girls than ever before, that thank me for giving them confidence. I want to do this on a bigger scale. I want to mentor, inspire, and give back to the same communities that helped me grow. That might mean starting more outreach programs, becoming a mentor for younger students, or even working with more schools and nonprofits like I’ve done in the past, to provide access to engineering and robotics to those who wouldn’t get it otherwise. I know that my future in engineering and science is going to be one of impact. That’s what I plan to contribute, and I’m excited about what’s ahead.