Numbers and figures. Problems and plausible solutions. Almost a decade has gone by, but engineering continues to play a key role in sophomore Laiann Hormaza’s life and future.

However, her love for the craft initially began with a science fair in third grade in which Hormaza and one of her friends participated.

“Me and my friend… were like ‘we want to be engineers and scientists’, and then one of the boys in our class came up to us [and] was like, ‘you can’t be an engineer. That’s for boys,” Hormaza said. “I took it personally. So I was just like, you know what, I’m going to an engineer.”

Although this encounter sparked a flame for young Hormaza to continue on towards her goal of becoming an engineer, she was also inspired by her father’s own job.

“My dad, he works for Boeing [and] he’s a manufacturing manager but I always just thought it was cool,” Hormaza said. “Everytime he took us to Boeing for family day, I was in awe every time I saw like the process that they did to make the planes.”

For Hormaza, family day at Boeing has allowed for her to get more involved with engineering practices when she was younger so that she can prepare for her future in engineering.

“They had this workshop for little girls in elementary school… [and] it was only for girls,” Hormaza said. “It was super cool because I got to meet all these other little girls who are also interested in stuff in engineering.”

In order to instill the same infatuation with engineering that she has found in such workshops, Hormaza is involved with a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, or STEM, club at Carolina Park Elementary’s Kaleidoscope program.

“I find something comforting in having problems and then being able to solve it in some sort of way,” Hormaza said