Being a freshman in high school you should take the required classes and then those that interest you. Talk to your academic advisor /counselor/teachers to get advice on your curriculum. Does your school have an engineering track? Some schools do. That might be a good way to experience it. ECs are also a good idea.
But first, gender and race don’t really matter. Interest in math /science most likely does. Lots of engineers don’t build anything but they like to figure out the best solution for the current problems they are facing. Working in groups with collaboration is key.
Check out https://www.acementor.org/
This is a great after school program maybe for next year or junior year. It is a free program and mimics what happens in the real world. Don’t worry if you don’t like civil engineering etc. It’s a great introduction to the ideas of engineering, working in teams but also together and its a lot of fun.
You are a bit early for this but look at your local colleges engineering requirements for incoming Freshman. That will give you an idea of what courses they expect from high school students. Many want more then the stated requirement. Ending with Calc 1 or higher is a great start senior year.