Gaby Garcia

Encouraging women to chase their dreams.

When Malala Yousafzai turned 18, she opened a school for Syrian refugee girls, calling on leaders from around the world to provide “books not bullets.”

It was at 18 that Cleopatra became ruler of Egypt, in 51 B.C.E., and Victoria the queen of Great Britain, in 1837.

By the time she was 18, Britney Spears had had two No. 1 albums on the Billboard chart, and Serena Williams had won the U.S. Open.

Emma Gonzalez, 18 now, has become a global leader in the movement to end gun violence.

No pressure, right?

"Eighteen is an age. But it’s also something more. It’s a moment, a rite of passage, a gateway to adulthood."