Why would you consider yourself a TechGirl?

I’ve always had a fixation on technology and its potential as a venue for both creativity and practicality. However, after enrolling in lackluster computer elective after lackluster computer elective in school, I’ve decided that maybe I’ve been looking in the wrong place.I approached TechGirlz because it’s a program dedicated to making sure young girls like the middle school version of me can explore their passion for technology. By getting involved at TechGirlz, I can participate in the education of girls in a situation all too familiar while immersing myself in an environment straight out of my daydreams.

What first got you passionate about tech?

In elementary school, my teacher would routinely assign my class these cut-and-paste exercises. The instructions were to cut out the little paper eggs with the numbers on them and paste them onto the little paper birds’ nests with the corresponding math problems. When I turned in the assignment, the teacher would always find that I’d used the extra eggs to create a “game” on the back of my paper, complete with crayon – drawn conveyor belts, buttons, and score counts. As soon as I had the tools available to me, I traded my crayons for code, but I’ve been a TechGirl at heart since the little birds’ nests.

What is most interesting about technology to you?

I am most interested in technology as a tool for education and storytelling. I hope to work in the video game industry, crafting experiences that can evoke emotions and imbue lessons that cannot be evoked or imbued by any other medium. Video games as tools can be harnessed for a myriad of positive effects on our society, be it through education, communal problem solving, or even just a well-told story. And that is wonderfully exciting to me.

What would you tell another young girl who is interested in technology?

“You are the future.” Cheesy, perhaps, but true. Girls like that hold in their hands not only the future of a society growing ever more connected to and by its technology, but also the future of their own female peers, each of whom has the potential to an be ambitious, innovative woman.