Story originally published on Sep 2016
I think it’s impossible to be a person of color and a woman and not think about the fact that your community is marginalized and disadvantaged. I’m still trying to figure out exactly how I can contribute to changing that.
When I was a student I thought I didn’t really have a lot of time to do anything to give back and make a difference, but in my senior year something clicked for me. Growing up I didn’t have any role models in engineering, nor did I see any examples of people that looked like me in engineering. This made me realize that just my presence in this field makes a difference, and the more visible I can be to people like me, the better. That is why it was important to me to become a TA for introductory engineering courses during my Master’s program, and why I am moving to Cape Town to work as a civil engineer building a sustainable technology center in a community disadvantaged by the legacy of apartheid.
Related spotlights
Michaëlle Mayalu
Assistant Professor
Mechanical Engineering
My dad was my first introduction to the field of engineering.
Read Michaëlle Mayalu's story
Matthew Edwards
Assistant Professor
Mechanical Engineering
I’m interested in the ability of high-powered lasers, with their extremely bright light, to help us develop new devices and new types of technology.
Read Matthew Edwards's story
Sherrie Wang
PhD ’21
Institute for Computational & Mathematical Engineering
I grew up assuming engineering was something I could do largely because of my grandmother.
Read Sherrie Wang's story