What a year it has been.

As I sit down to write this year's reflection, I can't help but chuckle a bit; the year most definitely does not end in July, and yet the fact that it's already been a year is still hard for me to process. Growing up, I never envisioned that my life would look like this: teaching young kids about STEM, running outreach events, and talking with others about the challenges science education faces in reaching younger audiences. If anything, my biggest dream was simply to be someone's mentor and share my own journey with them.

What began as a small, quiet hope has become what the Bay's KOA is today, no longer just me helping one kid, but a group of wonderful people inspiring children and adults alike, showing them that STEM doesn't only belong in a lab or a classroom. It belongs in the community. It belongs anywhere and everywhere. And it isn't only about discovering new things; it's about learning how to lead, how to communicate, and how to build a community rooted in empowerment and ambition.

The road to get here has not been an easy one. What started as a small group quickly fell apart, and what felt like an ending taught me that starting over is never a bad thing. There were many moments of self-doubt: questioning whether I could balance academics with work and the Bay's KOA, and more than once thinking, "surely there is someone else out there who could do this better than I can." It wasn't until I found myself questioning why I started in the first place that I understood the real difference between wanting to do good and actually doing it. At the start of the year, I promised myself I would learn to give myself grace, and it was through the Bay's KOA's struggles, months later, that I finally did. I learned that no matter how small our impact, doing something will always outweigh waiting on the sidelines for someone else to act.

That lesson has carried us to where we are now, further than I ever thought we'd get. This year, we hosted our first science demo in Clarksburg, a library in Yolo County, drawing roughly 40 participants. We're now preparing for our second event, expecting more than double that turnout, with several more already in the works.

Through all of it, I've come to learn that the late nights, the long meetings, and the tangle of logistics are a small price to pay for the moment you see a child smile so big it reminds you of the kid you once were, the one who first looked at science and thought, "this is incredible."

To everyone reading this- current members, future leaders, and mentors both new and old- thank you for believing in me even in moments when I didn't believe in myself, and for taking the initiative to inspire and lead the next generation of discovery in education. We are the dreammakers, building the path for the dreamcatchers who come after us.