Burton HS, Class of 2017
My name is Lauren Tang and I graduated from Burton High School in 2017. IGNITE was brought to my high school in my junior year when my female physics teacher passionately fought to provide more exposure for young girls to STEM fields and careers. The first IGNITE event I participated in was a panel of women with successful careers who had great inspirational and encouraging stories for the young girls in the room. Following this panel, I continued to be involved with various IGNITE events including field trips, site visits, and more panels. Seeing so many women find success in every different kind of STEM career, these events continued to help shape my understanding of my interests and passion and allowed me to build a tentative plan of my future in STEM with courage and motivation.
Presently, I am attending Princeton University pursuing a degree in Computer Science and Engineering. I have learned to be more confident in my abilities to take on very technical classes and a STEM heavy course load.
IGNITE has showed me that there is a world of possibility when it comes to what career I can have. I am studying Computer Science in school, but my interests spans much more. Next summer, I will be interning at Google to explore how my technical skills can be applied to useful problems in the world. I am excited to see what the future holds and where I will go next.
I am thankful to IGNITE for its influence on me, providing me with exposure to a variety of STEM career possibilities as well as insight into how I might pursue my passions. I know IGNITE has provided similar enrichment to other girls and with more support, I hope the work that IGNITE does and the impact it has continues to grow for many future generations of girls.