Women in STEM Night Recap
- May 5, 2016
- 3 min read
Pep up science gals! Team 3161 Tronic Titans hosted a successful Women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Night event on Thursday May 5th at Holy Trinity. The school’s robotics club teamed up with the SpeakUp Grant initiative offered by the Ministry of Education, as well as gathered a group of enthusiastic female STEM-lovers in hopes of making a difference and a night filled of memories.
The school community welcomed two guests, Ms. Reimer and Ms. Ribeiros, both living examples of how women can use STEM as a career and life pursuit. These female engineers engaged in a long conversation alongside a thoughtful presentation.
Ms. Reimer stated at the beginning of the speech that she is going to make this as personal as possible. It is her belief that making things personal will allow content to resonate among female students the way that a formal speech cannot. She began to introduce herself as a wife, daughter, sister, aunt, and a friend, the many roles that a female member of society can play.
Many shocking statistics amazed the girls listening to the presentation. Especially that from 1991 till now, the percentage of female engineers has not changed at all - in fact it is decreasing. She went above and beyond just showing the statistics, as she taught the participants how to change this phenomenon. She emphasized that a woman can have it all as long as she persists. She encouraged women to be strong advocates for themselves at a young age and surround themselves with positive mentors and influences.
Halfway into the event, the girls and guest carried on the conversation in the cafeteria, where everyone enjoyed a feast of pasta, salads, cookies, and fruit. In fact, it just so happened that more interesting topics came up at the dinner table. Both of the guests shared a story in which they purposefully failed a course in university. Ms. Reimer said that 5 courses with textbooks as thick as the dictionary was too much to handle, because all of the exams occur at the same time. Thus, she failed physics intentionally since it is a passion that she could stand learning all over again. “The quicker you fail, the faster you can correct it,” said Ms. Reimer, who sure set a new motto.
Towards the end of the night, girls proceeded to participate in fun activities such as building towers out of newspaper dowel and making jewelry from bolts, nuts, and washers. Among the activities, girls opened their minds to share what they have to say about science and technology. The most memorable quote was pieced together by the participants: “Science is real; it always has answers to the questions I have. Mathematics is solid, because you can always find a definite solution to problems. We believe that the questions that are left unanswered will one day be solved. Especially at this day and age when information is exploding like bombs at every moment.”
A big shout out goes to the rocking participants who had and have faith in the fields of STEM, the inspirational guests, and the HT robotics team for coordinating this event, making it possible for girls to make a difference in their lives.
Big dreams comes from those who dream, so keep believing! GO TITANS!
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