Hi Victoria,I am an A.A. female jr in high school, deciding on a college and major. I am very good in math and science. Are you faced with discrimination and adversity in this field? At Princeton?

Hey Kennedi! 

Yes, I believe I am faced with discrimination and adversity in the field. I can't really say if its because I'm African American or if it has been because I am a woman or BOTH because I've never had anyone to actually tell me why, but yes it's happened to me. I feel like some men outside of my race at work have a hard time knowing how to act around me so they end up avoiding me which in the end makes me feel like it's me! I had to learn that it isn't me and the best way to break this barrier is through communication. POSITIVE COMMUNICATION. 

At Princeton, it wasn't really professors and grad students that I faced adversity with but more so people in the area. Either way, don't ever let any of these things stop you from greatness! Being a woman and African American is like magic we turn everything we touch into gold! We are natural born QUEENS. 

That's amazing that you are really good at math and science. If you're considering an HBCU for engineering I would look into North Carolina A&T, Howard University, or FAMU.  They have a really good engineering program there and I've personally made good friends with engineers from those schools and from what I see they are doing really well. My school Prairie View A&M is good too but we don't offer petroleum. A bit of advice that I learned is it's better to major in chemical engineering and not a specific field. If you are majoring in chemical engineering you can easily work in the field of petroleum after graduation. If you major in petroleum engineering you put yourself in a box and make it a little harder for you to venture out into other engineering positions outside of petroleum engineering. 

I love your name btw. Best wishes to you <3

Victoria