A Little Bit WISEr: National Conference 2014

"If you're the smartest person in the room, you're in the wrong room."

                                                                      - Richard Tirendi

I was lucky enough to spend this past weekend in Toronto as a delegate at the WISE National Conference run by the Women in Science and Engineering chapter at U of T. I had no idea what to expect, but waking up at 5:30 to catch the early bus into the city was definitely worth it, and the learning started early. First lesson: you can take every wrong turn and still make it to your destination. It's a good thing that strangers in Toronto are friendly! I convinced myself that I would get there early and have breakfast in a cute little café, but I wound up lost and at McDonald’s. Second lesson: Even when the entire city is different, McDonald’s is exactly the same. IT WILL NEVER FAIL YOU! (unlike, say, your Analysis T.A..)

In 36 hours, I met more female engineers, scientists and mathematicians than I have ever met in my entire life (yes, cumulatively). The one thing that they all had in common was their ambition: every single woman I met this weekend was doing something incredible, and each had a story to tell. You could turn to anyone and be struck by their talent. It was a throwback to a simpler time when it was perfectly alright to strike up conversation with a stranger; in fact, conversing with strangers was encouraged.

We heard from Kathy Lee, the CEO of General Electric. She told us about risk and reward, and demonstrated to us that you can be graceful, feminine, self-aware and absolutely at the top of your game, career-wise. I can only hope to be nearly as poised in twenty years. What I took away from her talk: you really can have it all if you’re willing to work for it. Don’t sacrifice and don’t settle for anything.

Ernestine Fu is the youngest venture capitalist in Silicon Valley, and a PhD student—barely older than I am, yet much more accomplished. I was excited to hear her speak based upon her insane credentials, yet surprisingly, the most striking thing that I learned from her talk was not on self-driving cars or 3D printing, but rather, how absolutely human we all are; she wasn’t the robotic, flawless computer that I had envisioned in my head—she was real, and she was so, so much more than her resumé. But then again, aren’t we all? Sometimes we forget that so easily.

Swati was the mirror image of every girl in the room that day—multi-talented and uncertain what to do with that gift when she was our age. The creator of a little technological beauty called Square (Google it if you must!), she changed her mind many times. As someone who is still struggling to choose her program for next year, this resonated with me. She told us to throw out our five-year plans and to simply see where life takes us next. For a room full of 150 ambitious women with type-A personalities, this was the ultimate challenge to us all.

The final—and my favourite—keynote came from a speaker who I was completely oblivious toward prior to her actually standing in front of me. Angie King is an Operations PhD candidate at MIT, and also everything that I want to be. I didn’t realize how excited I would be for her talk until her Pi-themed PowerPoint ("Impactful Data: Or How I Fell In Love with Math”) was actually staring me in the face. Listening to her describe her undergraduate experience as a female math major was like listening to someone narrate my life today, and much more articulately than I ever could. She emphasized her lack of female STEM professors and role models (her grand total? Zero!), and it made me realize how lucky I am to have  been taught by not only one, but two female mathematicians—a statistical improbability.

Angie commented on the odd experience of being one of the only girls in a higher math class and the contrast with non-STEM fields. My pure math classes at Western are typically 25% female (hello, Intermediate Linear Algebra II!), and though I’ve gotten used to often being the only girl in the room in Middlesex College, I didn’t truly realize what kind of camaderie and community I have been missing out on before being surrounded by female STEM majors this weekend. 

Angie also spoke on a curious note that has been nagging at me all year—being “the worst of the best”, struggling with impostor syndrome and feeling like a fraud amongst her talented classmates. This year I have had the experience of sitting down amongst some incredibly talented mathematicians and feeling so inferior—sometimes math is humbling as hell. This year I was tempted to switch programs into something where I wouldn’t have to try so hard, but math is one of the (admittedly few) things that I am willing to put aside my pride for. Angie's talk will stay with me forever— it turns out that you can be sociable, well-spoken, feminine and a brilliant mathematician; who knew? 

I am so, so glad that I went to WISE. It was amazing to (for the very first time in my life) be surrounded by ladies who could talk about multivariable calculus and commiserate over eigenvectors and subspaces (that never happens!). I didn’t know what I was missing out on until I spent time in a room full of some of the brightest female engineers, mathematicians and scientists, and it was both humbling and motivating to be considered amongst their ranks.

Every single woman I met this weekend turned around and surprised me with her talent and ambition. For me, WISE reaffirmed the need for women in STEM fields to support and encourage each other, as well as the necessity for us to pass down the torch and mentor each other whenever possible—because we each have so much to learn, yet also so much to share and teach each other.

I left the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute this weekend feeling humbled, inspired, and maybe a lot wiser than I was 36 hours ago. So here's a little math for you: 

36 hours * 150 female scientists/engineers/mathematicians * 200 kilometers * 9 talented keynotes = 1 life-changing conference

Taking a chance on WISE was the best decision that I have made so far this year—if you can make the choice to go next year, do it. I dare you.