National STEM Day celebrates the importance of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in shaping our world and inspiring innovation. At Girls Inc., we encourage girls to explore their interests in STEM and build confidence in their abilities. Girls Inc. supports the girls in STEM that we serve through mentorship, STEM programming, and career guidance.  This year, we asked our Brand Ambassadors to share their experiences with STEM and how it has inspired their curiosity, creativity, and goals. 

Charita, a Brand Ambassador from Girls Inc. of the Greater Capital Region, shares how she discovered her STEM career aspirations through her questions in neuroscience: “My interest in neuroscience started with a question I had while listening to my dad snore: Could snoring be a sign of something more complex happening with the way we breathe during sleep? That led me to look at obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), where the upper airway is repeatedly blocked during sleep, leading to apneas and, in some cases, hypoxia. I was particularly interested in how this affects the brain and the neural networks that control breathing. During my summer at the Fenik & Rukhadze Sleep and Sleep Disorders Lab at Albany Medical Center, I explored this further through a project on the PHR (a region involved in regulating breathing). I did the lab’s first bouton count (boutons are the small structures along labeled nerve fibers that allow neurons to communicate), and we compared bouton counts in samples from young and old mice as part of our investigation into age-related differences in neural connections. Engaging research brought neuroscience to life for me. I started out curious about snoring, but soon became fascinated by the biology of sleep and breathing. This experience sparked my interest, built my research confidence, and solidified pursuing medicine for me. It also taught me that progress often starts with asking the right question. 

Alexandra, a Brand Ambassador from Girls Inc. of San Antonio, shares her advice for her younger peers: “I would tell a younger girl who is interested in STEM to honestly go for it; to take chances in each field to see if any fit what you’re looking for and if not, not to worry because there are so many more careers and pathways you can take. I would recommend for her to look into programming that relate to the most interesting or intriguing field of STEM.” 

Amelia, a Brand Ambassador from Girls Inc. of Metro Denver, shares how she developed a passion for STEM: “My footsteps echoed in the factory’s concrete corridor, and I quickened my pace to keep up with my guide. We turned a corner and entered a seemingly normal door that was a passage into another dimension with mixers taller than the average person and football-field length brine belts. However, surrounded by more cheese than I have ever seen, all I could think about was the lack of food I encountered in my previous summer. The summer before I participated in a Girls Inc. internship, at a local anti-hunger non-profit, I helped stock a no-cost grocery store that provides free, nutritious food in a city riddled with food deserts. It was at this moment, in my second year in the Eureka STEM program, interning with a mozzarella manufacturing company, that I knew I wanted to pursue a field where I could change this food disparity. I was always drawn to science but it was because of these internships that I discovered the field of public health after searching for a path that would deepen my interest in the intersection of medicine and social justice. Girls Inc. gave me the ability to work with these organizations and my experiences in these places have pointed me in the direction of how I can use STEM with the lens of community. For every younger girl who is interested in STEM but is not sure where to start, I advise them to look at their own city and find the problems that plague the people within their community. The beautiful part of science, technology, math, and engineering fields are just how much good that can be done by finding unique solutions to our world’s problems. I believe every curious young girl can discover their own passion by really opening their eyes to their own community.” 

National STEM Day is an opportunity to uplift girls and remind them that the possibilities are endless: whether you want to be a scientific researcher, software engineer, ecologist, or other STEM profession, Girls Inc. is here to provide all the support and guidance participants may need.