[Eugenia Gabrielov]

1) What made get involved in FIRST
After hearing one of the girls in my lane in Swimming team constantly rant about robots and competitions and cool things team 461 had done, I was extremely intrigued. Later that summer I spoke to Ryan Dognaux, now a very good friend of mine, who at the time gave me a really good intro to FIRST and encouraged me to join.

2) How long have you been involved in FIRST
This is my third year in the program

3) What college(s) did you apply to/get accepted to
Applied to: Yale, MIT, Stanford, Cornell, Northwestern, U Michigan & Purdue, accepted to: Purdue, U Michigan, Northwestern, and possibly Cornell (waitlist)

4) Are you planning on going into the engineering field why or why not?
I will be studying Biomedical & Chemical Engineering in college, but I want to go into either medical practice or medical research. However, I am open to the possibility of changing career choices, so I'm studying Engineering in college to leave that option open.

5) Also why do you think it's important for women to go into engineering, and maybe share some personal experience working alongside engineers
Not too long ago, women were not allowed to be doctors, only nurses or assistants. The same can be said for just about any other field. Different people of every sort, regardless of gender, race, religion, etc, bring new viewpoints and experiences to the workforce. I'm not studying Engineering because I feel I have to empower my gender, I am studying engineering because it is a way to empower and challenge myself, which will in turn give me the honor and ability to empower and inspire others.