LW_Mag_WINTER_FINAL (1) 2014 | Page 6

GIVING. PRAYING. FASTING 6 encouragement and just to show her [an] example of how that really touched me as a student, and it really encouraged me to believe that I had the ability to do it as well. That was really powerful for me to have those type[s] of experiences and I’ve had many of those I have to say. …,” said Gilbert. Many indeed. Probably one of the most critical experiences was when Gilbert was about to enter fifth grade and her mother placed her in a magnet program in Prince George’s County Public Schools (P.G.C.P.S.), located in Maryland. It was there that an affinity toward mathematics and other S.T.E.M.-related subjects was born. Although her mother planted the seed and a groundbreaking engineer helped cultivate it, it wasn’t until )