Luciana Vega 2018 American Girl of the Year

I got my first American Girl doll when I was in seventh grade. It seems a little later than the typical doll age for kids, but American Girl was a newer company at the time, and that was right when they hit our radar. I got Felicity, another friend got Samantha, her sister had Kirsten.

I LOVED that doll. I combed her hair, set it in rollers, changed her clothes and had one last doll moment before I was fully a teenager and officially too cool. Last year my mom cleaned out her storage units, found Felicity and returned her to me in practically perfect condition. My daughter asked if she could have her and I said…no. Look, she has American Girl dolls of her own. Felicity is mine.

Fast-forward 25 years from my middle school days to me leading a Brownie meeting with my daughter’s troop. The girls chose to earn their engineering badges this year and I started by asking them to draw a picture of what they think an engineer looks like. To be honest, I was prepared for lots of pictures of boys in uniforms and glasses and I was ready to drop some knowledge into their young brains. I was going to have a “the future is female” moment.

I didn’t get that moment.

I got one that was even better.

Every single picture the Brownies drew was of a GIRL. Girls building things and operating machines and just generally kicking butt. I’m not so naive as to think our work here is done, but I was thrilled in that moment. My girls just looked at me with Elle Woods “What? Like it’s hard?” eyes, and I had a moment where I felt like everything is going to be okay. These girls have everything under control.

Combining my love for American Girl, and my desire to break down walls in all directions is the 2018 Girl of the Year from American Girl. Luciana is an eleven-year-old who wants to be the first person to go to Mars. She has the best little purple streak in her hair and she goes to Space Camp. Space Camp! I love everything about her. Be sure to check out her flight suit (only available to AG members) and Mars Habitat!

We love that American Girl is a tradition that we can pass down to our own daughters and we love that their girls of the year continue to break down barriers and teach our girls that the sky is truly the limit.

This is not a sponsored post.