Looking back on your education, what do you think was the deciding moment (event, person, etc) that helped you decide what you wanted to do when you "grew up"?

Great question! My parents saw that my sister and I had a talent for math and science early in our education and signed us up for the now-defunct Magnet School program at Dunbar Middle and High schools in Fort Worth ISD.  

I was first introduced to programming languages in the HSEP  (High School for Science and Engineering) program at Dunbar, and my Computer Science teacher, Mr. Hicks, introduced us to fundamental programming concepts using C++, and that's where I first started to think that solving problems using code might be something I would be interested in pursuing as a career. I went on to get two Bachelor's Degrees - one in Computer Science, and one in Mathematics - at Texas Christian University, where Dr. Doran gave me the opportunity to attend a program for women in Mathematics at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton. While I enjoyed my time there and met lots of women with the same talent for math that I had, after doing Fourier transforms for 2 weeks straight, I decided that software engineering - not math - was the best career path for me! Since graduating, I've had a successful career that has spanned several industries and employers and have so enjoyed the work that I do.  

As you can see, there were several turning points that pointed me in the right direction! Get involved both in and out of school in engineering outreach programs either online or in person where you can get hands-on experience with lots of different types of engineering! This site along with the Society of Women Engineers' SWENext program are great resources to do that!