Dr. Maria A Komugabe

I attribute my success to my dad. He wasn't rich, just a peasant farmer who sold my inheritance because we are a family of 10. Instead of giving me land, he decided to sell my inheritance to pay for my tuition. After completing my bachelor's, I realized that since he made this sacrifice for me, I should also invest in myself. He actually told me that the best investment isn't about land or property, but it's the mind. That wisdom has driven everything I've accomplished. His belief in my potential and his willingness to put everything on the line for my education taught me the true value of investing in yourself and your education above all else.

The best career advice I ever received was actually from one of my advisors who said, you have to get things done, no matter what. At first I was like, how? Like, in those moments where you don't have tuition, for example, and someone is telling you you have to finish your degree. But when someone tells you that, it pushes you, it ignites something in you that says, yes, I think I have to get things done. Your mind will automatically go into a mode of figuring out what's next. That advice taught me to focus on solutions and keep moving forward regardless of the obstacles in front of me.

I would advise them to be focused and know that they may not be acceptable at first sight. They have to work, sometimes they have to begin by working twice as hard, but once they are resilient, once they are able to prove their worth, then people will respect their work by being disciplined. You don't do something today and then tomorrow you're shifting gears. No, you have to be focused and know that you are in an environment where you have to first prove yourself in order to be acknowledged. I would advise them to focus on their goals and not to move away from what they want until they can achieve it. My advice could be to move until you find a place that recognizes your fire, rather than trying to put it out.

The most significant barrier or challenge I face, and maybe that I'm still facing, is working in a STEM environment that is heavily dominated by traditional male-oriented culture. As a woman, I often feel my expertise is overlooked or underlooked before I even speak. It's a space where you find you have to work twice as hard to be seen and to say, hey, I can do this. However, sometimes finding a good community also helps to prove that's not always the case. At CGU, where I finished my PhD, I found the opposite, where males are actually supporting women to come up with their full potential. This helped me understand that maybe it's about the environment you work in as a woman that can make you work twice as hard to be out there and have people see what you can do. In most cases, one of the biggest challenges, of course, is working in a STEM field where men don't believe in us. You have to really prove yourself so many times before they can say, hey, I think you're right.

I really value determination, because I know determination determines destiny. Discipline is very important to me, because being an international student without enough money, I had to be disciplined enough to succeed. If someone is disciplined enough and they know their worth is not in how they speak, but what they can do, it's very helpful for them to keep focused. If you're disciplined enough and you are determined, you can reach your goals, because there is a saying that she who dares wins, and that drives my path. I also value sacrifice, which I learned from my father who sacrificed everything for my education.