Meet Stephanie Thompson
Stephanie Thompson graduated with a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Waterloo. She currently works as a Manufacturing Engingeer at General Motors of Canada. In her spare time, Stephanie like to read, play board games, and conduct social outreach for STEM.
When did your love of STEM begin?
When I was young my dad taught me how to not be afraid of spiders and to be curious about them.
When I was in Grade 11 I was selected by my chemistry teacher for an overnight 4 day excursion to Chalk River Nuclear power plant. This was an opportunity, not only to shadow and learn new things, but also to discover industries and career paths. It also helped me gain the confidence, and I felt proud of being recognized. It was the reason I entered chemical engineering.
What is the best part about working in the field of STEM?
"Be a ladder, be a lamp or be a lifeboat" - this is my motto for STEM. Not only do I enjoy leading, creating strategies, problem solving, and working on solutions that no one else thought of, I really enjoy bringing people along with me and knowing that I can impact their confidences.
STEM is the only way our society will move forward, and I want to be a part of the journey that moves us away from litigation/sports/programming that doesn't value information over social media perceptions.
What advice would you give young women interested in a career in STEM?
STEM is a passion, and you need to be excited about the world you are in and what you want to accomplish. For some students, they need to look beyond traditional schooling and understand what topic interests them -- then learn how to research and pursue the information and experts in that area to gain the technical skills necessary for success.
Too often, we teach our young girls to be perfect and not brave (refer to Reshma Saujani's Ted Talk for more). I really believe in this theory, having been that little girl in frilly pink dress that had to go home and change at a little neighhood boy's birthday party was rough and tumble. I hope to be driving my daughter to not think of science as "gross," and that every thing has a place in the world.
I've nicknamed my daughter, Worm Hunter. We spend time in the garden digging up worms and cataloguing their lengths -- hoping to break the stigma at a young age, the same way my dad did for me.