On May 24th, 6 6th and 7th grade girls (ages 11-12 years old) from public primary school no.1 im. Komisji Edukacji Narodowej Białobrzegi in Poland participated in an IGNITE event.
The girls met an expert in the field of biochemistry and molecular biology! Ms. Sandra Gostyńska is a PhD student at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.
At the beginning, Ms. Sandra told the participants about the disproportions of women in science. There are only 21% of women working as professors.
Moreover, according to the research of Harvard Business Review, when there are more women in a group, their collective intelligence increases! That’s why it’s so important for women to choose STEAM.
Ms. Sandra continued and shared that as a young girl, she liked to learn and was very ambitious. She always liked chemistry, and that’s why she chose to study biotechnology. Many people were saying that after such studies, she would have problems finding a good job, but she knew that this was her path.
During her studies, she was very active and even during the summer, she participated in conferences and internships.
After her studies, she decided to apply for a Fullbright scholarship for the program BioLab, and she succeeded and went to Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation.
Ms. Sandra told the girls how the work in the laboratory looked like. After completion of the scholarship, she decided to start PhD studies at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. There were 200 applicants, but only 19 students could succeed. Luckily, she made it! 😊
At the end, the expert gave the participants instructions on how to make crystals out of salt. Ms. Sandra also gave the girls a recipe for success: “Success is the result of hard work, patience, humility and faith that everything is possible in life.”
Ms. Sandra’s story was very inspiring and motivated the girls to search for their path and never give up!
I would like to thank Ms. Sandra Gostyńska for sharing her passion. Special thanks to Ms. Katarzyna Klich, who coordinated the group, and I would also like to thank Cathi for her encouragement.
After attending this event:
67%
of students are more interested in STEM
100%
of students want to continue attending IGNITE Worldwide events
Here’s what the students thought of the event:
“I liked the event very much, it was very interesting!”
“The event was enjoyable and successful!”