My older sister Karen showed me firsthand that women can hold their own in the field of science, giving me the courage to get there myself. After graduating summa cum laude with a double major in electrical and biomedical engineering, she went on to complete medical school with aplomb, and now works as a neuroradiologist. In the process, she has won research grants, scholarships, and has risen as a young, female doctor among older, established men in her field.
Throughout her academic and professional careers, Karen has remained vigilantly focused and sharp, but has never lost the silliness, sense of humor, and genuine compassion (not to mention her killer sense of style) that has nurtured her relationships with others. She has shown me how to be fearless and confident in my own abilities to think critically, how to stand up to others who may try to belittle me, and most importantly, to always believe in my own intelligence. This was critical when I made the switch from a career in publishing to computer programming, a field that lacks gender diversity, and has been known for fostering negative attitudes towards women in the industry. Karen has held me accountable when I’ve doubted my own abilities, or thought that I simply “wasn’t good enough”– instead of letting me default to an easy excuse, she’s pushed me, and reminded me that our success and passions are sometimes hard-won, but always well deserved when we put in our best effort.
Karen has taught me that I deserve, as much as any other woman, the opportunity to be a female engineer, and that I possess all the intelligence and capability I need to succeed as such. I could not be luckier to have her as a sister to look up to (even though I physically look down on her 5’1 frame from my 5’6 one!)