letters from the editors
Martha Wakoli
I’m often asked when exactly I knew and decided I wanted to become an engineer. On days, when I’m not feeling very imaginative, I provide the clichéd response, “Engineering chose me.” On days when I’m inspired, I tell the slightly longer version of my story.
My dad often fixed things at home when I was growing up and he nurtured my curiosity by encouraging me to work with him on repair projects. Second, I had an aptitude for English, Math and Physics but also had fantastic teachers both in primary and secondary school. In fact, in high school both my Mathematics and Physics teachers were women. I think this subconsciously helped to reinforce the notion that women too can excel at sciences. Third, my family is very supportive of each other’s choices. As the last child, I was lucky enough to have a variety of perspectives before settling on a career path.
Growing up I wanted to be a writer, musician, teacher and engineer. Yes, all 4, with the same passion and intensity.
Fortunately, I did find a way to be each of those things at some point in my adult life. I’m extremely grateful for a support system that allowed me to choose unorthodox routes and cheered me on even when they didn’t quite understand my varied and seemingly unrelated interests.
Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, the 63rd Black Woman in American History with a Physics PhD, aptly captures the same sentiments in this very insightful article: I do think that the attitude in the physics community can be, “Well, if you’re doing something else with your time, it clearly shows that you’re not committed, and that you’re not a genius—like Einstein-level genius—because Einstein just worked really hard and thought about things.” But in fact Einstein was a polymath. He was interested in a lot of things. So I’ve been working on allowing myself to be interested in the many things that I am interested in, and not feel guilty about it. I do think the way the academic job market works—it discourages people from being whole, and that’s a major problem.”
My suggestion for the young girls reading this would be to honestly answer these questions: “Is this what I care about and am I any good at it?” This will allow you to make a career choice you can excel at. To quote Howard Thurman, “Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
My recommendation for us all would be to never be afraid to change or reinvent yourself. As my own mother has taught me by her incredible multi-faceted career journey, “You shouldn’t aim to be anything you want to be. You should be EVERYTHING you want to be.” In the words of Tyece Wilkins, Author, Twenties Unscripted “You are allowed many lives in this lifetime. More than one career. More than one path. More than one moment.” Welcome to Issue 2! Enjoy the read!!
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