Maria Nash

I think I attribute my success to a lot of the people in my life, definitely, who have encouraged me, and given me great advice, and given me opportunities. And I think also just finding areas that challenge me and cause me to struggle actually push me to be better and to work harder, think smarter, and really just expand my skill set. I believe that having a tough day or a problem that you just can't find the answer to on your own is where having a solid community that you can really rely on for help, and they can rely on you for help as well, really makes you feel secure and firm in your place, and gives you the reassurance to keep doing what you're doing, even when it's difficult.

Speaking to some of the women in STEM, because being a woman in STEM and being in the education field, there's not a lot of women in the STEM field, so I've been able to form a lot of close relationships with my female professors. I think some of the best advice that they have given me is that in mathematics and engineering, and just in general in STEM, women don't just contribute to the solutions, but we actually reshape the way we think about problems and the boundaries of inquiry. I think we offer a new perspective. I think just having a different perspective to what we typically see with just men in the field, like how seatbelts were designed for men, and then we finally had women come into the field, and they were looking at the designs of it and saying, well, this isn't actually designed to keep our bodies safe, and just making how things are formed and the questions that we're asking meaningful to a wider group of people, and I think that's really important.

I think for a lot of women in STEM, there sometimes are gonna feel like there's not always a seat at the table for you, or you're kind of reaching, sometimes, glass ceilings. Like, these spaces aren't really made to be super welcoming for you, but I would just encourage them that glass ceilings aren't limits, but they're invitations. And they're waiting for women in these fields with the audacity and the tenacity to change them and be at the breaking point.

I think some of the biggest challenges is definitely just finding opportunities, looking for research opportunities and internship opportunities, that's always something that's very difficult, and it can be difficult when you don't make up a large portion of the field, but I think really building strong relationships helps a lot with that. Having women professors that I can rely on, and other faculty members who I can rely on, and they can help me outsource and look for other connections, I think, is just really powerful.

I would say building meaningful relationships, I think there's always going to be problems that you run into, having a tough day, a problem that you just can't find the answer to on your own. Having a solid community that you can really rely on for help, and they can rely on you for help as well, really just makes you feel secure and firm in your place, and gives you the reassurance to keep doing what you're doing, even when it's difficult.