My path into STEM was shaped by curiosity, resilience, and a refusal to accept limitations that others tried to place on me.
As a teenager, I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that forced me to confront uncertainty early in life. At that age, the future was not measured in years. It was measured one day at a time. That experience instilled a sense of urgency and determination that still drives me today.
Science became a way for me to understand the unknown. I initially pursued medicine, motivated by a desire to understand disease and survival. Along the way, I discovered that my strengths did not lie in memorization but in logic, mathematics, and systems thinking. Computer science offered clarity. You define a problem, design a solution, and see a result.
I found inspiration in women who challenged expectations long before STEM fields were welcoming to them. Ada Lovelace wrote the first algorithm in the 1800s. Grace Hopper helped shape modern computing. Margaret Hamilton built software that made space exploration possible. Their stories reminded me that women have always belonged in science, even when history tried to make them invisible.
I also encountered moments meant to push me out of the field. I was openly told that women could not succeed in computer science. Instead of accepting that narrative, I used it as fuel. Those experiences taught me how to advocate for myself and how to persist in environments that were not built with me in mind.
Today, I am passionate about mentoring and community building. My message to girls considering science is simple.: Try it. You do not have to love everything. You do not have to be perfect. Exposure opens doors. Curiosity leads the way.
On International Day of Women and Girls in Science, I hope more girls see stories like mine and realize that science is not something they need permission to pursue. It is something they already belong in.