To all the girls who were told they couldn’t achieve something because of their gender: you can do anything you set your mind to!

I want to thank my mom for always believing in me and my twin brother and younger sister for inspiring me  - without their endless support, I would never be pursuing a career in medicine!

Samantha and Emily are neighbors in Oakmont Village.  They are also best friends, but they go to different schools.  Samantha goes to Southlake Primary School and Emily goes to Pinewood Primary School.  While they go to different schools, they are both 10 years old and in Grade 5.

Samantha and Emily love science class.  Everyday, when they get home from school, they like to tell each other about what they learned in their science classes.  They also like to play science games and look at bugs under their magnifying glasses.  Samantha wants to be a surgeon when she grows up, and Emily wants to be a computer scientist when she grows up.  

One day, Emily came home from school and she was very upset.  She was so sad that she didn’t even want to play science games or tell Samantha about what she learned in science class.  Samantha was really worried about Emily.  Samantha gave Emily a hug and asked her “Are you ok? Did anything happen at school?”

Emily pulled back from the hug, sighed and said “Mr. Smith told me I couldn’t be a scientist today, because I’m a girl! He said that girls can’t be leaders or scientists.”  Emily was on the verge of tears, and Samantha was shocked by what Mr. Smith said to her.  No teacher at Southlake Primary School would ever tell Samantha that she couldn’t be a doctor because she’s a girl! “I’m so sorry, no one should ever tell you you can’t be a scientist Emily!” Samantha said.

That night, Samantha couldn’t stop thinking about what Emily told her.  She didn’t understand why Mr. Smith would say such cruel things to Emily.  He was her homeroom teacher, and he was supposed to be supportive of her! Samantha’s homeroom teacher Mrs. Lee always tells Samantha and her classmates that they can do anything they put their minds to.  Samantha was angry, and she needed to think of a plan to help Emily and other girls at Pinewood Primary School, who, according to Emily, were also limited from taking some STEM classes.

Luckily, it was the weekend, so Samantha and Emily had 2 whole days to think of a plan before going back to school on Monday.  Samantha and Emily met up right after having breakfast.  Emily was still upset from Mr. Smith’s mean words, but Samantha was less frustrated today because she had a plan! She was going to help Emily and all the other girls at her school who had been told similar things by different teachers, and been denied from participating in extracurricular STEM activities and certain STEM classes due to their gender.

Emily and Samantha spent the whole weekend planning, and they decided they were going to start their new STEM club for girls on Monday.

 Emily replied “I love that idea! Then we can play science games with even more people and help other girls realize they can be scientists if they want to be scientists.” 

“Emily, I know what we can do.  We can start a club for scientists from Pinewood and Southlake Primary Schools! Mrs. Lee will be able to help us!” Samantha exclaimed.

On Sunday night, Samantha asked her mom why Mr. Smith said those things to Emily, and why other girls at Pinewood have also been denied opportunities to take science classes and have fewer projects in the science fair.

Samantha’s mom responded “Some people, like Mr. Smith, think that way because in society, we used to think of scientists as boys or men, while people didn’t think women or girls could be smart or have science skills.  Fortunately, we have made many improvements as a society to reduce these attitudes and assumptions about gender roles, but we still need to do more so that past history doesn’t limit girls from being able to pursue any types of careers!”  

Samantha’s mom’s explanation made her even more determined to help other girls.

On Monday morning, Samantha and Emily got to school early.  Samantha asked Mrs. Lee to help her with officially starting the club, and Emily told all of her friends at school that they should join the club too! By the end of the day, the club sign up forms Samantha and Emily brought to school were already full.

Samantha and Emily hung out with their new club after school every day for the rest of the week.  They were so happy to make new friends with similar interests, and to be able to spend time in such a supportive environment.  On Wednesday, Mr. Smith heard of the new club they started, and he was furious! Emily didn’t listen to his advice and she started a club without telling him.

Mr. Smith went over to Southlake the next day to speak to Mrs. Lee about his disapproval of the club.  Mrs. Lee was shocked by his ideas about what girls could and couldn’t do, and she told the principals of Southlake and Pinewood about what Mr. Smith said.

The principals of Southlake and Pinewood were shocked and appalled by how Mr. Smith was discouraging young girls from being scientists and leaders.  Mr. Smith and other teachers at Pinewood, who limited access to STEM classes for girls, were immediately fired, and the principals met with Samantha and Emily later that day to apologize and congratulate them on the success of their new club.

The principals of Southlake and Pinewood Primary Schools hosted an emergency district meeting the next day.  They wanted to create a new policy amongst all schools in the Oakmont region so that girls would never be told they couldn’t do anything ever again! All of the principals of other schools in the Oakmont region were extremely grateful that this issue was brought to their attention, and they created a rule that all girls and boys would have equal access to STEM classes, clubs and opportunities from the day they started school.