Quarantine forced me to brave the world and my parents on my own. I taught myself that the only way to live authentically is to not let anyone try to define yourself for you. I control who I am.

I often look back at my old self. At when I bought my first horrendous tie-dye croptop or when I fell in love with a girl who clearly did not see me as one. But I accept that those selves were myself, and I can be proud of myself today because of them.”

Maeve Chen was president of the Science Olympiad team and the American Society of Civil Engineers chapter at Tech, and helped renovate a community garden near the school.

Now studying civil engineering at MIT on a full scholarship, Maeve says, “I intend to work in construction and I hope my work will take me around the world and help me serve the public.”