Du willst an die Uni? Mit deinen Noten?
Mathe. Physik. Chemie.
Die nehmen Dich doch gar nicht.
These words were horrible to hear. I wanted to study so bad. Yet, here I was and the job advisor at my high-school told me that my grades are not good enough to get into the university program.
He told me that I will not make it and that I should stop dreaming about it.
I applied anyways. And I got in.
I got my degree. And I passed Chemistry. Physics. Math. Everything turned out fine.
I did not stop there and got my PhD. Within 4 years.
Right away afterwards I got that great post-doc job and then the VENI.
I believe that it is not ok to talk to high-school kids like that advisor talked to me.
Ideally, we are a good mentor and encourage, motivate & support them.
I find my work as a mentor for Cybermentor since 2009 quite rewarding and really look forward to another year full of STEM education.
Thanks to being awarded with the Amrapali Zaveri award I am really excited to create YouTube videos, together with
Pint of Science Netherlands & show the STEM lab work in both brain and data science, including female role models for high-school kids at local schools, Cybermentor and MINTorMe.
I would have loved to participate during my own high-school time.
-by Anna Schueth
