Hi everyone! My name is Bianca Ranjan and I am a Grade 10 student at Pickering High School. Today, I had the pleasure to attend Illuminate x Durham’s regional conference. Here are my thoughts highlighting what I learned about the important role of women and being a woman in STEM.
During Ilona Dougherty's keynote, she made extremely important points that I had not thought much about. For example, she mentioned that as young people, we should stop looking at experiences as learning experiences. Rather, see them as opportunities to make an impact, question authority, and innovate.
Listening to Dr. Cecile Fradin's speech was a great pleasure. She touched on key topics such as internalized bias, stereotype threat, role models, and what it is like to be a successful woman in STEM. She also shared many interesting videos and images regarding her work in the lab.
I thoroughly enjoyed listening to all the speakers and participating in the workshops. I also enjoyed watching the case study presentations of other groups. In the future, I will definitely be utilizing the knowledge and insight that I gained today.
wow bianca! this was very well written :)