Meet Olivia
Olivia is a junior at Westview High School in Oregon. She has always loved making things and is currently very interested in 3D printing. Olivia also loves being outdoors - mountain biking, camping and hiking.
Olivia helped found a youth venture fund to support marginalized families in Portland. This has included a podcast, called PDX Business Spotlight, to showcase local businesses owned by people of color.
“It really started in June of 2020 with the Black Lives Matter protests, and I had a lot of free time on my hands with the pandemic. I connected those two ideas and thought - how can I spend my free time to help causes that really matter to me?”
From an early age Olivia has loved making things. She started with origami and moved into building in some of her classes. Olivia’s mother saw her interest and helped her further her craft in afterschool.
“When I was a freshman in high school, my mom really encouraged me to join our school's robotics team because she saw how much I loved making. She thought that would be a great application and a way to get to meet other people really interested in making.
My mom has been really influential. She's always looking out for me and when she sees an opportunity she thinks I'll be interested in, she forwards it to me, which I really appreciate.”
Olivia reflects on her journey as a timid girl starting in robotics to a confident girl ready to make the most of her time.
“When I joined I was really nervous. I stood at the back waiting for people to tell me what to do. I wasn't asking very many questions. Then over the pandemic, I realized how short my time would be with the robotics team and how I should really be getting the most I could out of it. So, I've been working on advocating for myself more and on getting other girls involved as well.”
Olivia gives adults some insight on how to best support students in their pursuit of STEM.
“I think adults should really focus on encouraging students to learn what they want to learn, even if it isn't specifically following the curriculum. For girls, I think it can be hard for (a lot of) them to speak up and talk about what they want to focus on. So, you have to pay closer attention and make sure you're listening to them and what they want to learn.
I also think we need a few more girls-only spaces where we can just talk more by ourselves, so we aren't as intimidated by guys who always shout out the answer first.”
While she doesn’t have everything figured out yet, Olivia is working to become a bigger advocate for girls in STEM.
“Right now, I'm just trying to get more girls involved. At the beginning of the year, we had five girls that started coming to meetings, and I noticed that they were standing at the back. A lot of the guys who joined would take over jobs and the girls would ask what they can do to help. I've been trying to get those girls more involved by asking if they can do a job instead of the guys who always do the jobs.”
Olivia has a message for young people, especially girls, interested in STEM.
“For all of the young people out there, I just really want to encourage you to follow your passion. Even if teachers during school don't allow you to do that, that's where afterschool programs really come in handy. If there's something you're really interested in, I'm sure there's a club at your school where you can meet other people with that same passion, or you can start your own club and you can inspire everyone else.
And for all of the young girls out there who might be interested in STEM topics but might be too afraid to speak up and ask questions when you have them, I just hope I can inspire you to speak your mind whenever you want to. If you want to learn something and there isn't someone to teach you. Don't just wait for them to notice you're interested. Go out and ask. There are a lot of online resources and afterschool programs you can seek out.”
