Our 4th Year girls attended the first iWish Virtual event today. iWish is an annual event which showcases the power and potential of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) to female secondary school students. The event featured a host of inspirational female speakers who are working in STEM orientated careers. Each of the speakers encouraged the students to consider the endless possibilities available to them through STEM.
Students were reminded and encouraged to believe in themselves and not to limit their thinking or ambitions. The speakers showed that women and girls possesses an inherent ability to bring about real change in the world through the pursuit of STEM careers.
We very much hope that our wonderful female students will feel inspired by what they heard today!
We spoke to one of the 4th Year students who attended, Faye McGarry and she had the following to say about this wonderful event.
Fourth year female students recently received an opportunity to attend a virtual event held by a volunteer led community named I Wish. I Wish is committed to showcasing the importance of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) and enabling the male driven area to welcome more female students.
I incredibly enjoyed attending the service, it was highly interactive as they held polls on their numerous social media profiles and you were free to voice your opinions on many topics regarding STEM. They included many women who have pursued careers in STEM, and they spoke about their experience and what led them to do so.
I believe it opened my eyes to a career that isn’t often spoken about among female students, and provided a great insight into possible careers for students who may be interested in science subjects but didn’t know what career to pursue in said subjects.
I think it encompassed a great insight into the lack of diversity within STEM and its purpose was definitely fulfilled, as I know many girls are now interested in pursuing STEM. I believe it is incredibly important to speak about and highlight the numerous careers within STEM, and that I Wish did so wonderfully.
Hearing role models speak about their journeys and the different areas they practiced in before settling provided students with a great understanding and settled any anxiety from students from areas who may feel limited with choices that they can pursue the career they wish in different forms.
I thoroughly enjoyed my experience as I Wish’s virtual event bordered educational with a mix of entertainment with the opportunity to win prizes and a surprise workout to ensure a high heart rate. I would recommend attending to all girls, even those who are adamant on their career choice to attend as it was great to see so many role models from different backgrounds encouraging more women to pursue their goals that wouldn’t have been possible many years ago, and now their eyes have been opened to the endless opportunities.
