I built a program that checks whether a given string is a palindrome (a word, number, or phrase that reads the same forward and backward). The program ignores spaces, punctuation, and capitalization and handles edge cases, including empty strings, mixed cases, or inputs with symbols. I also gave myself the challenge to not use .reverse() or reversed(). This is my first project and I am excited for the journey that lies ahead of me! I have been seeing the projects this community has been making and each one has blown me away, can’t wait till I am making a project like that!