My interest in engineering was sparked by a longstanding love for reading. Specifically, I was captivated by a book about a girl who wanted to be an astronaut.
In hindsight, it’s not surprising. I always loved building Legos and making furniture for my dollhouse out of popsicle sticks and socks. My dad is a civil engineer, and at only five years old, I remember telling him “no” when he asked if I would be an engineer when I grew up.
Granted, I didn’t really understand what it meant, and I didn’t like roads that much. It wasn’t until I read a book about a 10-year-old girl, just like me, pursuing STEM, that I asked my parents about the people that built the rocketships. That’s what I wanted to be.
Started by my Society of Women Engineers (SWE) Club in 2022, the Johnston County STEM Girls SWENext Club launched our “Be That Engineer” Literacy Project that has brought together engineers and girls across the globe.
As project lead, I ask women STEM professionals and most recently collegiate SWE sections to write notes of encouragement on the inside covers of girls-in-STEM books from SWE’s suggested STEM Reads List. Then, the books are read and donated to elementary schools to inspire students for years to come. The idea skyrocketed.
In 2024, I presented the program alongside my all-girl robotics team to female European STEM leaders at the Pentagon and senior leadership at the U.S. State Department. This year, we travelled to the U.K. Department for Education to grow the program. While there, in collaboration with Bournemouth School for Girls, we read and donated books to 300 primary school students.
I have also connected with other organizations and robotics teams to share the program with as many students as possible. When a team needed books in Arabic, there were none available. But after I contacted an author, we received both Arabic and Swedish books. Through these efforts, “Be That Engineer” is growing in nine states and eight countries, directly impacting close to 6,000 students. But it’s not stopping there.
In October, we partnered with North Carolina State University’s SWE Section for the first-ever collegiate signing night. And in November, we made more waves in the community by bringing together the School of Engineering and the School of Education and Human Sciences, forming a collaboration with Campbell University’s SWE Section and Teaching Scholars.
At the event, the SWE members embraced the idea of writing short notes of encouragement inside the books. There was a lot of laughter and nervousness to find the right words that would resonate with elementary school students and encourage them on their future paths.
Afterwards, the Teaching Scholars brought the books to their tutoring program, the Community Collaborative Support Initiative, where they are now accessible to many Harnett County students.
One book can change a life. One changed mine. One personal note of encouragement within a book is even more powerful. By connecting girls with real women role models in STEM, “Be That Engineer” empowers girls with one resounding message: You are capable, and we support you.
