Meet Henrietta
Henrietta is an 8th grade student in New York. She plays the French horn, enjoys coding, gymnastics, swimming and writing. She competes on a math team and participates in the Challenger Center Program in Lockport, New York.
Henrietta has big dreams of becoming an engineer, which was born from her love of building things.
“I always really liked robotics and the idea of building something new just seemed really fun. I just started building things. Engineering is all about building things.”
Her participation in robotics has helped her far beyond the competitions.
“I have learned from competitions how to do things quickly and solve problems on the spot with teamwork. These are pretty good skills to have.”
Henrietta thanks her family and coaches for making a huge impact on her engineering experiences.
“I've had a lot of different coaches over time, and they have had a lot of different, helpful perspectives on how to solve challenges.
My family's always been there and they help me get to the programs. The the programs are far and can be an awful drive sometimes.”
Henrietta shares some advice for other girls potentially interested in pursuing STEM.
“You will have a lot of setbacks, but that's just what happens. You have to keep going and you will really like it.”
Henrietta’s afterschool environment also provides a safe space for her team to try new things and learn from failure. She shares the power of iteration.
“We are hands-on and get to work with everything. If you have no idea and someone doesn't think it'll work, they'll tell you, ‘I don't think it'll work,’ but they're not going to stop you from trying. Then if it doesn't work, you try, fail and eventually figure out how it works. It's really all about trying over and over again.”