 My name is Ladonna Michelle Simpson. I'm a lieutenant commander and I serve in the United States Navy. It was a great career. They did pay for my college, so that did help quite a bit, but after my five-year obligation, I pretty much enjoyed the job, so I decided to stay. We have the highest standards, hands-on experience that you get on nuclear reactor. None of the other civilian corporations offer the type of in-depth, hands-on training that we receive in the Navy. The way that we, as women, will achieve that gender equality is to get out there and to do the same roles that the men are doing. We have to go into extremely technical ratings. If you want to make a change, if you want to achieve gender equality, it's important to stay. For me, it's been getting to meet people that I would have never have met had I not been in military service. I have friends from all over the world. I have friends from all over the country. And honestly, from where I came from, these are people that I would have never experienced otherwise.