This week I had the pleasure and privilege of talking with kids from across San Antonio at the 5th annual CORE4 STEM Expo, organized and hosted by the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Saturday was a family day. Tuesday (yesterday) was Latina day, when approximately 2,000 girls from predominantly Hispanic schools went to a city Expo center for a full school day of interactive activities, discussions, and keynote presentations.
One of the keynote speakers was Shayla Rivera. She is from a Puerto Rican family. She became a rocket scientist and talked about this to the young women in the audience. Then she grew into other careers…eventually professional speaking and stand-up comedy! She shared some fascinating stories, like pitching TV ideas in Hollywood. Check out more of her at her website (which is a great domain and tagline!)
http://www.funnyrocketscientist.com/
Here is a short and funny YouTube clip of her on stage at a past performance:
Some of her other comedy clips on YouTube get into more adult material and language, so they aren’t all kid-friendly. Be warned or be prepared for that.
Rocket scientists can come from many types of backgrounds and situations. There may be stereotypes, but you don’t have to fit them. You can be yourself. But you have to pick yourself too.