Attending the Women of the Future conference with Intel not only inspired me to work in a STEMM related career and make me proud of my gender and feel empowered, it also allowed me to see how passionate people at Intel are about their work and how inspiring they can be to others.
Taking a step back and watching from afar allowed me to see the pure enjoyment splattered all over the students faces while they went up to different stalls and spoke and asked intriguing questions to each and every one of the volunteers from all different companies. The students asked a range of questions from “what do they do?”, “how did they get inspired to work in this field?” and “what would you advise me to do if I want to work in the STEMM field of work?”. From terrified looks while playing zombie games on the virtual reality headset to them being genuinely intrigued about what Intel does and how it could be part of their future.
Not only were the students enjoying themselves but so was every single volunteer who stood proudly in front of a stand which displayed what they do and spoke to every student passionately to inspire them into STEMM related jobs.
Intel provided a whole range of fun activities for the students to do, from the popular virtual reality headset to the educational video on what intel has done and simply showing them how Intel has helped to improve the lives of thousands of people and still are doing it today. Handing out haribo sweets, lanyards and pens to the smiling students as they came up to the stands and simply seeing the joy on their faces was enough to want to work for a truly inspiration company like Intel.
The whole event not only inspired me to look into STEMM related jobs it also played a large part in gender equality. With one of the main points that being a women doesn’t make you less important or less valuable than a man, and that shouldn’t stop you in your future or hold you back from following your dreams. They inspired young girls to prove people wrong so when someone tells you, you can’t do that because you’re a women or because that’s a man’s job let him do it, use that to inspire you to prove them wrong and to prove that a gender doesn’t determine your capability or your talent.
Allowing that strong message to be so powerful and persistent during the whole day really created a big impact on the students. I strongly believe that the event was successful if even just one girl went home thinking “I’m going to prove that person wrong” or “I can’t be told what to do or be judged on my gender”.
I was truly thankful for Intel inviting me to join them, and I learnt so much. From simply carrying boxes and setting up the equipment to engaging with the fellow colleagues on what they do and being inspired by the lecturers it was a truly unforgettable day of laughter, inspiration and haribos!
Images copyright of John Innes Centre
Megan is a year 11 City of Norwich School student who is currently working towards the Bronze Award. She is most interested in the Technology STEMM sector and is keen to learn more about the media and the technology industry.
