Last week I wrote an article about the most qualified woman losing to the most unqualified man in the 2015 presidential election. In the past week, I have felt discouraged and inferior as a woman. I have also realized that I am surrounded and influenced by great women; powerful women. And I realized how much I owe them.

To the woman who have shaped me,

To my female teachers and administration members that I have learned from; to the women politicians, comedians, and celebrities I have long admired; to the girls on my tennis teams and at my dance studio that I have looked up to; to my counselors and the orientation staff; to my sorority sisters; to the ladies in my family; to my friends; and perhaps most importantly, to my mother,

Thank you. Thank you all. All of you, every single one of you, has not only taught me, but has shown what the phrase "girl power" truly means. You have all led by example and shown me what a girl can do. For those of you who may not know, here's a spoiler alert for you:

Anything.

While some people in this country may not be okay with women in power, may not be ready for a female president, I know, because of you all, that I can do anything.

And this isn't a conclusion I came to recently. Since I was a child, this concept was embedded in me. I was not just encouraged, I was forced to excel in school and after school activities. I knew I wanted to keep up and sometimes pass my male classmates and my brothers. I didn't let my reproductive organs get in the way of me doing whatever activities I wanted and doing them well. I wasn't afraid to get beat by the boys in gym class and I didn't listen when they told me boys were inherently smarter than girls, we all know boys go to Jupiter to get more stupider.

Thank you for showing me what it looks like to be a strong woman. I hope to make you all proud one day,

Anna