I was recently invited to attend a Women’s Leadership Breakfast at the Ebell of Los Angeles. This fundraising event honors local and national leaders in the STEM industry, education, and advocacy who are making a difference in advancing opportunities for girls and young women. It was my first time attending this event, so I went without having any expectations.
When I got inside the Ebell, I followed the sound of the crowds. There weren’t too many signs up, but it seemed like there was only one event going on. There must have been multiple entrances because the entrance I walked through led me to the student exhibition. Having gone to other events before, I knew there had to be a check-in table somewhere, so I kept looking.
I finally found the check-in table and got my name tag. It had a super strong magnet on the back! There were a few main areas – the check-in area with pastries and drinks and an area for people to socialize, the student exhibition with lots of tables for different groups and projects, an outdoor area showcasing the robotics team, and the seated breakfast area. I started at the robotics area.
There were two robots on the field, with a truss obstacle in the middle, a board in the back, and hexagonal pieces on the floor for the robot to pick up. One of the students came over to talk to me about their project. There are three teams, and the field that was displayed is only half the size of the competition field. The robot’s task is to pick up the hexagonal pieces one by one (and at most two at a time) and place it on the board in the back. Each team came up with a different way to grip the objects, and extra points are given if the robot lines up certain colors together on the board. The robot is remote controlled, but is also coded to move by itself for a part of the competition. A camera is attached to the robot to detect and identify the object placed in front of them to know where to pick it up and place it on the board. The thing I was most fascinated with was how the robot can move forward, backwards, sideways, and diagonally! The wheels looked very cool.
Next, I walked inside to see the student exhibition. I was greeted by a friendly student who asked if there was anything I was interested in looking at. I told her that I’ll take a look around first. The first table that caught my eye was hosted by student that I had worked with before! She had brought her architecture and tunnels model for display, along with her certificate for completing the program and a handout from the City. I immediately recognized the models and walked over to say hi. I was very happy that she had kept her models!
The other tables had very interesting projects too, but unfortunately I wasn’t able to get to all of them. Another table that I stopped at was for a club that worked on different engineering projects, including building a balsawood bridge, rocket, and a puzzle! At the computer science table, two students talked to me about how they code in Java. Even though coding seems like a one person job, they explained that each person on the team has a different role. For example, if there are any bugs in the code, there’s a specific team member that they’ll work with to debug it. These students actually helped code the robots that I had looked at earlier!
I went to make a cup of hot tea, and was suddenly stopped by a lady who said she recognizes my name. I had no idea who she is. Turns out, she is one of the directors on the board and has heard about the program I’ve helped organize for the students! Both her and the parent she was speaking with have heard of the program, but their kids haven’t participated in it yet. Two other parents came by and started talking about the program and asked about what type of things I do, then started talking about the conference where they invite women leaders in the industry to talk to the students. It was very interesting to see how involved these parents are with the school and how they want to expose as many things as they can to their children.
I headed back into the student exhibition and the friendly student came over again asking what I liked most about the exhibition. As we were talking, I learned that she was actually part of the program I’m helping organize before I was involved! It was very cool to hear about the impact the program had on her and how she continues to remember her experience years later.
It was finally time to head over to the seated breakfast area. I found my table and took a seat. I sat between a teacher and former practicing architect and an engineer. The table was not very big, but there were 12 of us seated at the table! There was iced tea and water on the table, as well as coffee and hot tea being served. The breakfast place was delicious.
The breakfast program began with the choir singing the national anthem a cappella, which sounded very beautiful. The principal and the president of the Board said a few words, then the awards were given out to the honorees by the students. All the students seemed very excited and passionate to continue doing what they love as a career.
Seeing all the programs and activities that are offered to the students was amazing. These students are so lucky to have learned about so many different careers and what they can do in life, and have so many tools and resources to get hands-on experience at such a young age. It was definitely a very inspiring event to attend, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for these students!