DALLAS—Growing up, I didn't really have a family member or role model that influenced me to pursue an engineering degree. I was blessed with wonderful parents that stressed education and I inherited their math genes. I was most inspired by my 8th grade math teacher, Ms. JoAnne Perpich who saw I had a talent and encouraged me to make the most of it. It was the power of the positive feedback I received at a young age that led me to pursue not only solving math problems, but later engineering problems and organization effectiveness challenges. One of the greatest things we can do as parents, teachers, mentors, and adults is, if we see children with a talent for STEM, then praise them and encourage them!