I am 17 years old and just graduated from King/Drew Medical Magnet High School. I’ll be continuing my education at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, where I’ll be majoring in biomedical engineering. From there, I plan to earn my master’s degree, followed by a Ph.D. My goal is to become a biomedical engineer so I cannot only represent Black excellence, but proudly say that I am a Black woman engineer.

I’ve been a member of the Women’s Leadership Project for all four years of high school, and during my senior year, I had the honor of serving as president. Being part of WLP has helped me understand the challenges that women of color and members of the LGBTQ-plus community face every day. I participated in a conversation with the City Council about the unfair treatment, violence and lack of attention surrounding missing and murdered Black girls. WLP has shown me that speaking up is one of the most powerful tools we have. There are real issues that affect me and my community, and becoming informed, vocal and confident in moments like these is how we create real change.

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