A Woman In STEM by Monika

A Woman In STEM by Monika - August 2023 Scholarship Essay

Growing up I never thought I would ever have the courage to do this. I have always kept to myself and did my best to make sure that I blended in with the people around me. I would always ask my friends what they were wearing the next day at school for fearing that people would look at me more. It wasn’t until the fourth period of my junior year that I realized that I was not able to sit in the back of the class and stay unnoticed by other peers in my class.
As soon as the second bell rang meant for all students to be in class, I knew that it was going to be different this year. I looked around and I had noticed that I was the only girl in my AP Bio class. AP Bio was the hardest class my high school has to offer. Usually only eleventh graders took it along with also taking chemistry. The difficulty from taking both classes was often talked about from older kids. I love science and I knew already that I wanted to pursue a major in it when I went to college. I chose to stick in both classes despite being the only girl in my AP Bio class. At first, I was nervous being the only girl in there. I chose to sit up front however to make sure I was focused at all times and could do my best in the class. My teacher was a big help with making me feel comfortable. He would send me little words of encouragement and made sure he was always there to help me with anything.
During the first quarter of school, I had mainly kept quiet and barely raised my hand in class to answer questions. After seeing my grade, I realized that I was not reaching my full potential. I am more of a hands-on learner and me choosing not to raise my hand and asking things as we were going along in class had an impact on me. After my initial reaction of disappointment after knowing I could do better, I decided to be more active in class. I would raise my hand to ask a question or to answer one. This was hard to do since I had been living under a shell most of the time I was in school. I did realize after this that I had to do less and less studying and that my grades were improving. It was all worth it when I saw my grades for chemistry and AP Bio. I had gotten high 90s in both. Not only did I get an A, but I had also gotten the highest average in both classes. Getting over the fear of raising my hand and the disappointment and embarrassment of getting a question wrong in class made it all worth it when I saw my name on top of everyone else's while saying the highest average.
Now having done this and taken the leap to do what I needed to has made me less shy and more confident. I now do not wait around for things to come to me. I go out and get what I want because I do not care what others think because furthering my education or getting something that is important to me matters more than someone's opinion. Having been less shy I am finding that I have more opportunities. My future goals are now being attained easier and I am more eager to go and chase them.