By Alicia, Minnesota
Hello! I’m Alicia, and I’m a senior at FAIR School Downtown. I heard about Girls Design the World from the program director at my school, Mr. Elston. The first thing that he told me about it was that it would take place within Mia, which immediately caught my attention. Being someone who loves art, I decided I wanted to get involved. I applied, was interviewed, waited… and I was accepted!
As I mentioned, I love art. Therefore, within the STEAM acronym, I identify most strongly with the arts. I am hoping that this program helps me gain knowledge in the engineering field—I think it would be interesting to find out how things work, and the thought of being able to make something that actually functions blows my mind! We need more girls and women to become involved in engineering, as it is a predominantly male-oriented occupation and/or interest.
Within art, I’m geared towards photography. I found myself a part of an amazing opportunity when I had my photos hung up in downtown Minneapolis my sophomore year, junior year, and this, my senior year of high school. The feeling of having my artwork on display was really empowering, and it’s something I want to continue doing.
In the photography profession, there aren’t as many females as males; this is also true for engineering and the sciences. This, to me, is a problem. I would like to be part of a society where there are people of different genders, races, cultures, religions, and socioeconomic backgrounds in all professions. This, in my opinion, is the key to creating a diverse and inclusive work, living, and social environment.