By: Ginnie Lo
The club, STEMgirls, visited the Google Campus and met with four MHS alumnae in order to gain a better understanding of what it takes to be a woman in a male-dominated field such as computer science, President Tran Le said. The 15 club members that attended the panel on Nov. 21 were able to ask questions regarding the pathways of the alumnae and took a tour around Google, Le added.
Thanks to the sponsor of their club, Vicky Tu, STEMgirls were able to attend this event privately, Le said. The girls were told of the importance of how there needed to be more women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), Le continued.
“I think it’s really impactful because that day [members] got to be a Googler,” Le said. “They got to see the cafeteria, the people who worked there, the environment, and also the innovations that Google worked on and the important role of women in STEM.”
The club members were able to ask questions such as: how the alumnae handled high school, how they handled college years, and how they handled their work at Google, Advisor Elena Sherbakov stated. One thing that was common in all the speakers was character, Sherbakov continued.
“One of the girls who graduated from the University of Illinois, Champaign Illinois, took a lot of community college classes,” Sherbakov said. “It happened that she didn’t record a single one of those credits on her credits but she took a lot just because she was interested, and that’s what they mean when they say character. So when it’s not just for the grade, it’s obviously seen overall in their development and their interest.”
The girls were able to relate to the alumnae because they felt that they could see themselves in them, Secretary Deeksha Mamidi said. It was interesting to see students sharing the same paths as the previous seniors, she continued.
“I learned that Berkeley has a really tough electro-engineering and computer science program, and one of the alumnae said it makes you a stronger person because of how vigorous it is,” Mamidi stated. “Also, I learned that I really want to go into a STEM field because of all that amenities that they have.”
STEMgirls will continue to host their STEM-teaching after-school program at Weller and will bring in different guest speakers throughout the year, Mamidi said. They hope to inspire girls to go into the STEM field, she added.
“It takes a good background in science and math [to be a STEM major],” Mamidi said. “You also have to have a lot of courage because some of these subjects are very daunting at first, but you have to look past that and continue and ask for help.”
