By Renee, Minnesota
STEAM was something I had not heard of until my freshmen physics teacher walked into my chemistry classroom one day. We were doing a worksheet calculating moles of a substance, when she said something to my chemistry teacher, who waved me up to the front. My physics teacher said that she had heard of something I would love—a design challenge partnership with Mia! It was based on environmental issues, something she knew I cared about quite a bit ever since I came to school dressed as a bird made out of recyclables (a long story…). She also knew that I loved any opportunity to build, since she frequently had to tell me to stop touching the lab equipment, and knew I had taken engineering classes throughout middle school. I was psyched!
My family used to bring me to Mia to do elaborate scavenger hunts when I was little, so I knew it wouldn’t be scary. I was a bit worried, however, when my teacher explained that the A in STEAM stood for art. I hadn’t done art regularly for a few years, and thought that the other girls in the program might think I couldn’t do as much because I wasn’t really an artist. Girls Design the World is amazing, though! When I walked in on the first day, I instantly felt at ease among the smiling faces of my classmates. There are a lot of artists, but they don’t care that I am less artistic. We all care about the environment around us, and that’s all that matters!