America Ferrera spoke candidly about her Hollywood experience in an essay for Glamour.

The 39-year-old Barbie star was selected as one of the publication’s Women of the Year, and she reflected on her lifelong dream of balancing acting with advocacy work.

In the process, she revealed a time when she considered leaving acting behind. America explained why she was tempted and what ultimately made her change her mind. She also reaffirmed her fight to pursue equality and justice for women.

Read more about America Ferrera…

If you were unaware, America pursued a career in Hollywood while also going to school at University of Southern California, where she studied international relations.

She acknowledged that it was a challenging balancing act that pushed her to the extreme. As a freshmen, America said that she “started to doubt” if acting was worthwhile.

“Was I simply being frivolous and driven by my own ego and ambition? I considered quitting acting, because I had decided it was a selfish dream and I should instead become a lawyer or a legislator, someone who could actually make a difference,” she wrote.

America recalled tearfully speaking to a professor who helped her understand that her role in Hollywood was also helping people. He revealed that one of her movies had an impact on a mentee of his who had watched it.

The movie – Real Women Have Curves – started a conversation between him and his mentee and the mentee and her parents.

“He explained to me that my movie was life-changing for this young girl and had allowed her to have a conversation that she had never thought possible,” she recalled. “He allowed me to see storytelling as a powerful tool for change. And from that moment on, I understood that my dreams didn’t have to be exclusive to one another—I could pursue what I wanted and also use the stories I told, and the platform I had, to impact the lives of others.”

On the topic of advocacy work, America wrote about how she learned to bring people together to facilitate change: “The best and most consistent answer I had gleaned from my experience was to build community.”

The actress revealed what she hopes to see in the future for women, saying that her goal was “genuine safety: physically, emotionally, and mentally.”

“My commitment is to keep fighting and showing up in beloved community where women find strength and courage in each other, to continue the work toward the change that we all deserve,” she concluded.

America went very viral earlier this summer thanks to her speech in Barbie. Revisit it and learn more about its creation.