Confidence is Key by Hannah

Confidence is Key by Hannah - January 2025 Scholarship Essay

Being a female in engineering is difficult enough as is, but getting placed with an awful teacher would make things so much worse. Fortunately for me, I did not have that experience. My junior year of high school, I was lucky enough to be placed in Tanya Snook's aerospace engineering class. As I was already incredibly nervous about being in a class with almost all male students, I felt an overwhelming sense of relief when I saw that I had been placed with a female teacher. And that relief could not be more justified. Mrs. Snook made that class an unforgettable experience for me.

Mrs. Snook was not only accommodating but uplifting as well. I knew that in her classroom, I was safe to talk and feel however necessary. She encouraged me to talk to her if anyone in the class was bothering me or doubting my ability to do the work correctly during group projects. She made sure that none of the guys picked on me or singled me out during the entire year. She encouraged and helped me get into leadership positions to help develop skills I would undoubtedly need for my future as an engineer. She instilled in me a new level of confidence as a proud woman in engineering, no longer afraid to stand up for myself in times of adversity. Thanks to her assistance, I am now a stronger and more independent woman, student, and engineer. She allowed me to learn more about myself than I thought possible, and she helped me develop an even stronger love for engineering as well. I learned to embrace the "girly" side of me within engineering, rather than avoid it. I learned that being an engineer doesn't mean I have to give up my entire personality. While it is often frowned upon within the field, I learned that I can be both an engineer and a "girly-girl" with no shame. One trait does not mean you can't have the other. Being able to embrace all aspects of myself helped build me up to the person I am today, and I couldn't have gotten here without the help of Mrs. Snook.