I consider myself to be a fairly “girly” girl. I have an obsession with anything monogrammed, incorporate the color pink into just about everything I do, and would absolutely consider high heels appropriate for most situations. I am a firm believer in good manners and appropriate social graces.

I am also the only girl I knew growing up who mowed the lawn. My mother told me that our house was an “equal opportunity household” meaning that no matter how much of a lady I was, I still had the responsibility to mow the lawn. While I complained about it at the time (as would most 15-year-olds), that one tedious act instilled in me an incredible sense of self worth: anything boys could do, I could do.

And if I wanted it and worked hard enough, I could do it better. So I did — I made higher grades than a number of boys in my high school class and landed better internships and college acceptances. Never once did I think that because I was a girl I wouldn’t be able to have the world as my oyster.

But is this my reality in the real world? When I walk across the stage in May will this sense of drive, work ethic, and desire to succeed help me make my impact on the world? Not according to some.

It’s been reported that on average, women only make $0.77 for every dollar that a man makes in the workforce. Wait, what? That doesn’t make sense to me. Why, if I’m performing the same tasks, and accomplishing the same goals, should I be paid less for my contribution? The numbers, literally, do not add up.

But what can be done about it? While legislation has been introduced (the Fairness Pay Act in 2009 and 2011) and rejected twice, I believe that there is something much more basic, much more fundamental that needs to first take place.

Empowerment.

It’s one word, one idea, which could completely revolutionize our Gen-Y society. Women need to feel confident in themselves, their talents, and their ability to work as hard, if not harder than their male counterparts. And they have to be willing to ask for what they think they deserve. Whether it be a pay raise, a promotion, or a different opportunity, it is empowerment that will drive change.

I am a girl. But I am also empowered. And that makes all the difference.