Franklin Pierce High School & Washington High School at SAP Concur

November 5, 2019 | Franklin Pierce High School & Washington High School at SAP Concur | By Archer B. 

On Nov. 5, we took 22 girls and non-binary students from Franklin Pierce High School and Washington High School to SAP Concur in Bellevue. We were greeted by the very polite and welcoming Geetha French, one of the panelists we would hear from later. The work environment seemed to be a very serious one that also had a lot of friendly vibes, and everyone wanted to be there.

We all started in a conference room, where we were given information about the background of the building and the volunteers, as well as a breakdown by Jessi Alva, Product Manager, of all the activities available during the workshop.  Activity stations included Business Management, Cybersecurity, AI, VR, and robotics! The volunteers all explained what they do for the company and what they were going to show us.

From the business station we learned how to use the app they created to help companies file their receipts.

The cybersecurity station showed that there are multiple work areas you can go into for cybersecurity and also how important it is to have good cybersecurity.

At the AI station we learned how artificial intelligence shows facial features and can help a program differentiate emotions and other expressions.

The VR demonstration showed us how we can create a model or anything in a program and then use that program for recreation or business, like displaying multiple graphs.

I personally didn’t go to robotics due to time constraints, but I heard everyone over there having a blast! We all really enjoyed exploring the different activities.

Before the panel, SAP Concur provided everyone with a delicious lunch! The panel started with Carol Russell, who gave us background information on the company and women in STEM. Next was Alice Day, a software engineer who migrated from China to Canada, and then America. Then there was Camille Hansen, who is a tech writer and has faced challenges but doesn’t let them stop her from achieving her goals. She is even in the process of writing a book! Kendra Kissane, part of the user engagement team, shared that she was originally going be a doctor but decided it wasn’t for her. She then worked for a while as a civil engineer before finding her passion in her current field. Finally, there was Geetha, from sales, who was born and raised in Olympia, where she was the only Indian girl in her school growing up. She said that this was hard, but it taught her how to talk to different groups of people. All of these amazing women really inspired us, because they showed that no matter how difficult things may seem, there’s always a path to success and happiness!

What made this field trip so special is that it shined a bigger light on the technology side of STEM and helped us better understand the options available. This trip showed that no matter what anyone says or how any of us grew up, we can succeed in any field if we just buckle down and persevere. We can make it to our dreams!

From everyone at Franklin Pierce High School and Washington High School, we’d like to thank Carol, Jessi, Alice, Camille, Kendra, Geetha and every volunteer and worker at SAP Concur. Thank you for letting us come and experience this wonderful field trip!