“I was like, ‘Oh boy. I get Amanda in my English class.’ ” Even as a 15-year-old, Gorman always had an “innate sense of her own power,” said Michelle Chahine, a writer who mentored Gorman through WriteGirl, a Los Angeles-based creative writing nonprofit for girls. She was committed to making change through a career as a writer or politician — or, maybe, both. “It’s not that she’s interested in politics for the sake of politics,” Padilla said. “She just sees it as another way to enact change.” Gorman started her high school chapter of Girls Learn International, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting the rights of women and girls around the world. She would lead assemblies to educate her classmates on human rights abuses, said Padilla. Gorman was so moved by “What is the What” by Dave Eggers, a book about a Sudanese child refugee, that she started crying on the school bus, Padilla remembers. Reading about the refugees on their long walk toward freedom, Padilla said, Gorman told her she found herself unconsciously extending her arms, “trying to help them find their way.”