Visitation School's Women's Day Links Past, Present and Future of Women in STEM

Being nerdy is cool. That was the message 9-12th grade students of Convent of the Visitation School received on Friday's Women's Day, an all-day workshop focused on careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

These skills, which only a few decades ago were considered decidedly unfeminine, now can lead to more job opportunities, higher pay and career flexibility for the women who embrace them.

For each Women's Day, which a student will participate in twice while attending the Catholic all-girls Upper School, there is a theme related to becoming a successful member of society. Past events have focused on citizenship and service.

 "We are given a gift from God and that is your ability to think and to imagine, and science is thinking and imagining what can be." said Parsley, "So if you are using the gifts God gave you, if you can do this, you can do whatever you want. "

Keynote speaker Belinda Jensen of KARE-11 news was received with a standing, cheering ovation when she took the stage to explain how she became a meteorologist. Jensen said that at times she was unsure of herself, but stuck with the difficult math classes, maps and male-dominated classrooms. "So nerdy. So fabulous," said Jensen of her passion for science in college at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Jensen said the support of mentors, both men and women, helped herstay the course.

Twenty-two alumnae that have gone on to use STEM in their career led small groups in the morning and shared with students their experiences in fields ranging from traditional hard sciences to marketing.

Meg Campbell, class of '01 and also a former student of Mendota Elementary, told students how an interest in computers landed her a career in Hollywood. Cambpell said she was attracted to computers, webcams, code writing and social networking before terms such as social networking even existed.

She said she hid her techy inclinations from friends at school. "Sometimes it's hard when you want to do something outside the norm."

 Campbell went on to receive her post-secondary education in film at the Rochester Institute of Technology in upstate New York. She continued exploring innovations like MySpace and blogs, which positioned herself for internships and jobs with major studios such as Fox Searchlight in Hollywood.

Patty Radford Henderson, class of '85, told students what it was like to adapt to innovations like Web pages and e-mail throughout her marketing career. She emphasized that in every marketing project, a team of people provide analysis, code writing, research and strategy skills to make it a success.

By tackling the new products and ideas as they arrived on the scene, Henderson has risen to become the executive director of Magnet 360, an umbrella agency that coordinates marketing professionals for clients.

Henderson said that women drive the majority of purchasing decisions in every household, and have an advantage in the field that markets products to those consumers.

For the students of Visitation, the message rang out loud and clear.

Lauren Harper, a senior, said she is interested in visual arts, but learned how acquiring technical skills could become important in pursuing her career.

Molly King, a sophomore, said she is interested in nursing, and was able to listen to the experiences of a woman who works in pediatrics as one of her sessions. "It shows that women can have careers in just about anything," said King.