When did your love of STEM begin?

So my initial love of STEM began when I was towards the end of elementary school, maybe Grade 7. I got to see a science experiment conducted for the first time, I got really excited about it. I thought well that's cool and since that point I’ve always wanted to be a part of.

My passion for STEM continued to grow when I started a cooperative education initiative at the University of Waterloo. I got to be involved in some of the forefront of research going on in both neuroscience and computer science which are two fields that I'd never been exposed to before. From there learning about how research was conducted as well as what it takes to be a part of research really started to kind of foster my interest in the field of STEM.

What did you love most about study in your field of STEM?

I think the best part about working in the field of STEM is meeting other people in your work but also listening to other people from your work in neuroscience especially there's so much going on everywhere. There are so many different things going on, you get the chance to listen to people lecture or talk about the research that they're doing. You might have only ever read their work in a paper from ten years ago, but hearing what they're doing currently is is one of the coolest things ever to see how they're not only your research will grow from it but how their research has grown over time as well.

So it excites me because I guess I know that my I'll never stop asking questions. I know that the first project I am I start with isn't gonna be the last project I finish with that there's going to be many in between and I don't know exactly what they're going to be. That keeps me curious keeps me interested, it makes me look forward to all the different people I'm going to be able to work with and meet along the way. That makes me very excited to continue in science.

What advice would you give to young women considering a career in STEM?

I would say, it may may sound cliche but truly believe in yourself and believe in your work. You're going to have to do a lot of work to learn about it. You're going to have to do a lot of work to take part in it. If you believe in what you do and and the work that you do then the people around you will as well. Then there's no reason not to believe that your best efforts aren't going to take you to big places.