Young women sat in the audience of the Westview theater, March 20, looking to the panelists for guidance: how do you navigate the world of STEM as a girl? In an event comprised of five women of different backgrounds, ages, and career paths in STEM, the speakers gathered on stage to inspire the next generation. Elaine Li, Mirella Cruz, Sahana Kumar, Dr. Darshana Patel, and Dr. Tracy Nguyen were there to share their stories.

Julia Smith (11), the student coordinator for the discussion, prompted questions for the panelists. She said that she believes that these panel events are like gatherings, a place for people to come together and connect.

“I think it’s important to hold these events because it puts me into this sphere and this community of other engineers and it made me meet some incredible people that I now see as my mentors that I connect with within the society of women engineers,” Smith said. 

When asked about how to deal with failure,  UCSD student of Biochemical Engineering and panelist Sahana Kumar said the best way was to give yourself time, but don’t let the failure consume you.

“The best advice I could give anyone when it comes to failures is that all of you are going to face them,” Kumar said. “Some will be big, some will be small, but don’t let them impact you for too long. Give yourself 12 hours to feel bad, be angry, cry about it and then after that, find a plan to fix it. No matter how bad you have messed up or how bad you think the situation is, there’s always a way around it. None of these barriers will be permanent unless you let them be permanent.”

Zoom cyber security engineer Elaine Li said her greatest piece of advice was to look for new ways to learn. 

“Stay curious,” she said. “Be curious about knowledge and go out and get knowledge, not just in the field you want to study but in other fields. It will teach you different ways to think, give you different perspectives, and eventually you’ll learn different ways to solve problems.”

An important factor in succeeding, SWE-SD vice president Dr. Tracy Nguyen  said, is to find  a mentor early on in one’s high school career and build a relationship with them. 

Smith said that she agrees that having a mentor can be very beneficial when exploring the world of STEM. 

“For me, the mentorship with other women in STEM has been one of the most driving forces to make me align my goals with reality and make me think that the things I want to achieve are achievable,” she said. “Mentorship is such an important thing for someone to be able to have somebody to look up to.”

In addition to staying curious and finding a mentor, Kumar said that she believes the key to success is to do the things you enjoy. 

Dr. Darshana Patel, for California State Assembly, implores students to find ways to branch outside of their comfort zones.  

“When I was in undergraduate school, I did an atypical journey to study a year abroad in England,” Patel said. “When I came back to work, we had people all over the world working in our labs and I was able to relate to them. Look for ways to not go on the well-beaten path. Find ways to be curious. You don’t need to see that barrier as an obstacle, it can be part of your journey.” 

Emma Kao (11), a student that watched the panel, said that panels like these are very important for the future generations. 

“I was able to hear the individual journeys to becoming STEM professionals; specifically, learning about ways that the arts can also be applied to science was really interesting,” she said. “I think these events are super valuable for students to attend because they can connect with potential role models and mentors.”

Smith says that these panels are ways to not only give advice and information to students, but to also inspire women in STEM. 

“I go to these panel events and I always walk away with a smile on my face because they are the ones who have been there for me to continue to do what I do,” Smith said.