Beakers and pipets, Engineering 101 and a keynote speaker – perhaps those are not many high schoolers’ Saturday activities of choice. Nevertheless, I decided to spend my March 6 at the Society of Women Engineers WEST Conference at Harvey Mudd College. While I had rather negative expectations of the event, I came away from it with a new wealth of knowledge unique to the experience.
My involvement in the event came on a whim after receiving an invitation in the mail. I had no other plans and it looked somewhat interesting. So, I found myself spending a Saturday among 100 other high school girls in Claremont, CA.
Prior to the event, I worried that it would be, as you might say, a “nerd convention.” I also anticipated to find parts of the day dull and uninteresting. However, both of these reservations were met with an experience that exceeded my expectations.
As I found my way through the mob of registering girls, I doubted my ability to find someone to strike up conversation with. Being naturally introverted, I simply hoped to happen upon a friendly group.
I entered the auditorium in tandem with a girl who seemed fairly normal, not nerdy like I had imagined. Maddie and I quickly became acquainted. Relieved at having escaped the first potential problem, we chatted until the conference began.
After a quick introduction, we were led off to our first class of choice. I had selected chemistry, as I plan to major in this field. I hoped to get a feel for specific aspects of the subject to pursue, and make sure my interests really lie in this arena. Once settled in a spacious lab, the group began identifying terpenes and conducting a quick experiment.
As the hour wore on, I never found myself checking the clock out of boredom. Awkward barriers of unfamiliarity dissolved as my group worked to identify and then extract various essential oils. I even found myself enjoying the scientific research.
Chemistry ended and we enjoyed a quick break before heading off to engineering, a required class at the conference. As I was completely clueless when it comes to the subject, I tried to soak up as much information as possible.
My attempts were somewhat foiled with the failure of my group to complete the project. However, throughout the assignment, my group laughed and talked, scheming up somewhat ridiculous ideas simply because there was no consequence for guessing wrong.
The experience opened my mind to the field of engineering and its wide possibilities. What I somewhat dreaded as one of the requirements actually sparked my interest in engineering as a possible career choice.
The afternoon passed quickly, filled with a speaker – Jennifer Lindsay, a Harvey Mudd graduate – and a student panel from the school. These portions of the conference also assuaged my worries that the college itself was full of hyper-smart bookworms. Each participant in these discussions was fairly normal, which helped me realize that pursuing an interest in a subject less appreciated is not so unusual after all.
Although attending this math, science and engineering conference was a spur of the moment decision, I ended up greatly appreciating the experience. It allowed me to dip my feet into the prospect of studying chemistry in college. In doing so, I have a rekindled excitement for the coming year.
I left the event not only with a bit of book knowledge, but also the experiences of taking classes on a college campus, meeting so many students with interests like mine and realizing that signing up for extra classes on a Saturday is not always so awful after all.
For more stories about educational Saturday adventures, read the March 3 article, Symposium entertains investigative journalists.
