When I applied for my construction-based high school, I expected equality and fairness. I knew it would be male-dominated, but when I was the only girl in the room for my tests, I was overcome with a sense of uncertainty. However, through my years there, that uncertainty has blossomed into empowerment. I've had my fair share of discrimination, through my mentor's comments and actions- from having my work stolen or discredited to my principal telling my group of boys that they shouldn't have picked me as a leader. I knew I wanted to fit in more, but I never wanted to sacrifice my femininity. Being on my school's dance team, I felt like a deer in headlights wearing a sparkly uniform on game days walking into a room of cowboy boots and hats. Eventually, though, I became proud of the sawdust that I would find under my pink acrylic nails. I knew it resulted from hard work and passion, which some of my male peers lacked. I never ended up fitting in there, but I became okay with standing out. I found a sense of pride in having the highest test scores, earning the only perfect score on the wall I built, and being able to fully describe the construction process of the shed I built when nobody else could. It proved to me that my focus and confidence will always outweigh gender. I wish to attend Texas A&M University - College Station and study marketing and human resources. In the future, I want to go into construction marketing or materials administration. I chose this because my older sister is a project manager and reports a lack of respect from her marketing and material teams for the women in the company. I want to be a resource for women in the construction field and foster a sense of community and fellowship in the workplace. Also, I wish to improve relationships with my male coworkers because I know that more positive relations can be made between construction workers of the opposite gender. Through my work, I want to make a more lasting impression on women in the construction field. I want every teacher who doubted me to see where I ended up, not because I want to prove them wrong, but because I want to be an example of a successful woman in construction. In addition to this, I promised myself to never sacrifice my feminine nature in favor of fitting in. My femininity will never be a symbol of weakness, but a symbol of power.

I never thought that the hardest part of being a dance captain would be creating a warm up playlist. A constant chain of complaints would come from my fellow officers when I got to connect to the speaker. Not because of they didn’t like my variety of music, but because they disliked the lack thereof. 78 out of 103 songs on this playlist were Taylor Swift songs. I was even labeled “Sophia the Swiftie” by my team and friends (who are definitely team Kanye) and would be teased for my “basic hormonal teen pop”. I didn’t care. To them, it was just a song they would hear on a TikTok, but for me it was a way to feel what I was missing in my own life. My all time favorite song, though, was ‘New Romantics’. My whole life, I was an over achiever. Robotics champion, A-honor roll, state speech competition, dance teams, theater, and construction clubs filled all my hours. I was also, conveniently, an ‘ugly girl’ according to my classmates. I was tall and overweight and wore glasses and braces. My eyes would be covered by my long brown hair that was always far too frizzy with Texas humidity. While other girls would be held by their boyfriends and wore their hoodies, I would get asked out only through games of “truth or dare”. Dating me was the bravest thing they could ever imagine each other doing. I remember freshman year of high school, when I suddenly became ‘pretty’. That was the year I got asked out three different times, one of which being a highly sought after boy in my 8th period. While this sounds very immature, it was a foreign feeling to me. This boy was wanted by everyone he could want and yet he chose me. This excitement was short lived as I soon realized he only wanted my body. Mourning the loss of my newfound confidence, I joined more clubs at my school. Maybe if I was busy enough, I wouldn’t be able to think about my love life. Around this time, I started to get more obsessed with my Spotify, especially Taylor Swift. Her songs made me want to jump and dance and sing. They made me think, even for a few minutes, that I would be okay. In her song, ‘New Romantics’, she expresses such a youthful attitude towards love. It was naive and hopeful; it was love without heartbreak. It was something I knew I would never feel. My heart was broken long before I’d ever get a chance to be in love. Eventually, my extracurricular activities caught up to me. I realized that the more full my schedule was, the less time I had to spend with the people who truly did love me- my friends. I found out love could be platonic, and the more I ran away from the affection my friends wanted to give, the more I craved it. I didn’t need to spend so much time with people, just quality time with quality people. My team is my best friend. I love each and every girl there. As ‘New Romantics’ plays for the 3rd time that week, my mind settles on one lyric: “We are too busy dancing to get knocked off our feet”. When I would start dancing, I would feel okay again. I understood that I didn’t need a guy to make me feel loved because my team showed me what it was truly like to be wanted. That song gave me the confidence to be me and the love to give to others.