My name is Alexandra Westfield and I’m a sophomore majoring in Environmental Engineering. I’m from Northern Kentucky and I came to UCF because I loved the campus and how exciting the Orlando area is! I really enjoy chemistry and math and I have lots of passion trying to improve the quality of the environment, which is why I chose environmental engineering. In my free time, I like to cook, bake, go on walks, and watch tons of YouTube. I was a GEMS mentee just this past year as a freshman, so I definitely know how terrifying the first year of college can be but how rewarding and helpful being a part of my GEMS group was. I was able to not only build friendships but feel vastly more confident as a woman in STEM thanks to EXCEL and GEMS. Being able to have the opportunity to talk with women going through the same struggles their freshman year as I was gave me the confidence to keep pursuing my passions at UCF. Being a part of GEMS my freshman year meant the world to me, and now I am so excited to be a mentor and meet the new members of the GEMS family!