My Story
If you asked me five years ago what I wanted to do with my life, I would not have said engineering. I did not know who engineers were or what they did. From the age of eight to twelve years, I attended summer technology camps. Throughout middle school, I participated on a FIRST LEGO League (FLL) team, where I was lucky enough to travel to various international competitions, along with receiving a provisional patent. This past year, I started participating on a FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) team. I currently mentor my former FLL team and an FLL, Jr. team. Besides participating in a robotics program, I love demonstrating STEM to different people throughout my community. In the past year, I attended STEM Fests, afterschool programs, summer camps, and agricultural fairs. At these events, I demonstrated various STEM activities to people of all ages and encouraged people to try activities. Through my involvement with FIRST, I have gained hands-on experience and have developed an understanding of, and an excitement for, engineering.
My Project
Garrett County, Maryland is a small, rural, farming community with limited opportunities for girls to be exposed to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) activities. There are very few engineers employed in Garrett County and even fewer female role models for engineering or science. My program is a hands-on programming activity that introduces girls to new skills while showing them how STEM concepts relate directly to their everyday world in a fun and interactive way. I then close the loop by introducing several engineering disciplines, and highlighting the accomplishments of women in these fields.