Less than a year ago, 29-year-old Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was working as a bartender to aid her mother's income of housecleaning and bus driving. Now, she's taking the political world by storm.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez first started making waves in this year's past midterm, where she ran against, and ultimately defeated, long-standing incumbent Democrat Joe Crowley with only a $200,00 campaign, becoming the youngest woman to ever be elected to the House of Congress. Representing her home of New York, the Bronx-native and self-declared socialist attracted many for her unjaded and fearless speech towards her views and those opposing her, including our own president.

"Women like me aren't supposed to run for office," she wrote in a statement on Instagram. "I wasn't born into a rich or powerful family. My dad died when I was a teenager. I've waitressed my way through hard times and dealt with disappointment. The dress I'm wearing is from a thrift shop. The ring on my hand is my mother's... a reminder of every floor she's mopped so that her daughter could have a chance."

This photo is from Nov. 14, 2017. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 28, was then working as a bartender.

Less than a year later, she defeated the likely next Speaker of the House, and will almost certainly be the youngest woman ever elected to Congress pic.twitter.com/JgHjdQWAF6
— Jeff Stein (@JStein_WaPo) June 27, 2018

Though this is her first official political position, she has a multitude of experiences, including graduating from Boston University after studying economics and international studies, working for Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy, and working on Bernie Sanders's 2016 campaign.

"She took on the entire local Democratic establishment in her district and won a very strong victory," Bernie Sanders said in regards to Ocasio-Cortez. "She demonstrated once again what progressive grassroots politics can do."

She is revered by many for bringing liberal and often-considered racial ideas to mainstream thinking. Her policy that won over many included ideas that coaligned with her identity as a socialist, which many Republicans, and even some Democrats, were quick to call "too extreme."

AOC, however, defends herself in saying that the milestone reforms that defined our nation's history were all pushed by 'radicals' like herself. Norms we have in our lives today, like Social Security, started out as radical ideas.

So what are these so-called radical ideas that have both enticed some and scared others?

1. Healthcare for everyone

Ocasio-Cortez strongly believes that healthcare is a human right, and advocates strongly for a single-payer health care system, which would include medicinal, vision, dental, and psychological care.

Her website reads, "Almost every other developed nation in the world has universal healthcare. It's time the United States catch up to the rest of the world in ensuring all people have real healthcare coverage that doesn't break the bank."

2. Prison and justice system reform

Ocasio-Cortez was inspired by her cousin's experience with law enforcement to push for an end of private prisons and detention centers, an end of cash bail legalization of marijuana on a federal level, and the release of people who've been incarcerated for nonviolent drug offenses.

3. Tuition-free public universities and trade schools

As a millennial continuing to pay for student debt herself, she is in support of cancellation of student debts to relieve the upcoming generation being crippled by its demands, and for tuition-free public universities.

"A policy of debt cancellation could boost real GDP by an average of $86 billion to $108 billion per year," her campaign website reads. "Over the 10-year forecast, the policy generates between $861 billion and $1,083 billion in real GDP (2016 dollars)."

4. Federal jobs guarantee

Ocasio-Cortez strongly believes in a federal jobs guarantee, which would essentially improve working conditions including paid child and sick leave, healthcare, and a higher minimum wage for all citizens.

Some of her other prominent ideas include tighter legislation on gun control, instituting a Green New Deal, which would invest in renewable resources to benefit the environment while creating jobs, housing as a guaranteed human right, and a total reform for immigration in the U.S.

Though she is dominating in the political sense, she also reminds us that she's a 29-year-old, struggling with the same kind of problems that we are. Many have compared her Instagram Lives, where she talks about policies and skin care treatments, to FDR's fireside chats. She consistently connects with the younger generation by utilizing social media, and she reminds us that people, no matter how young they are or how much money/power they have, can make a difference in the world for things they believe in.