And when someone told her a problem was impossible, she usually asked whether anyone had actually tested that claim.
At school, she excelled in mathematics and science.
Her teachers encouraged her to enter programming competitions.
She joined an engineering club.
Then began reading about transportation scheduling.
The subject fascinated her.
An airline could have dozens of aircraft and hundreds of employees, yet a minor delay in one city could affect passengers thousands of miles away.
A late arrival might cause a missed connection.
A broken aircraft could require rescheduling.
A crew member nearing a duty limit might make an otherwise available airplane impossible to operate legally.
And a software error could create a problem that no amount of shouting at the gate could solve.
She understood that aviation was a complex system where small decisions carried large consequences.
When she turned seventeen, her father arranged for her to meet a retired airport operations supervisor.
The older white American man had worked in aviation for nearly forty years.
He invited her to sit in a public airport café and ask questions.
She arrived carrying a notebook filled with diagrams.
The supervisor examined them.
Then smiled.
"You've been thinking about this a lot."
She nodded.
"Yes, sir."
He pointed toward a chart.
"What's this?"
She leaned forward.
"A scheduling model."
He raised an eyebrow.
"For what?"
"Aircraft turnaround times."
The supervisor studied the drawing.
She explained that she was trying to understand how maintenance, gate availability, crew scheduling, and passenger boarding interacted.
He listened carefully.
Then asked a question.
"What's the most important part of an airline operation?"
The girl considered.
"Safety."
He nodded.
"And after that?"
She hesitated.
"Reliability?"
The supervisor smiled.
"That's part of it."
He looked toward the terminal.
Then answered.
"Trust."
The girl frowned.
He continued.
"A passenger hands us their time, their money, and sometimes the most important journey of their life."
He gestured toward travelers moving past the café.