A collaboration with Techgirls Movement Foundation and Engineers Without Borders, #MySTEMstory shares the stories of women from rural regions of NSW who have forged amazing careers in STEM.
Erin Hughes
"You'll get to say you've worked in every state in Australia and in countries overseas that you never would have heard about before!"
Erin Hughes shares some words of encouragement for her younger self. Now a Surface Water Engineer, she's a Torres Straits local, that paved an impressive career in STEM.
Hey Erin! It's me!
Jacqueline Bodill
"You do what you want to do - not what others expect you to do".
Jacqueline Bodill has some words of encouragement for her younger self. Now both a scientist and an engineer, she hails from Coraki, near Lismore in New South Wales. Jacqui is paving an amazing career in STEM!
Hi Jacqueline, it's me!
Dr Mary McMillan
"You're shy, you sometimes hold yourself back a bit. But I also know that you are stubborn, determined, and you are fiercely independent, and these things are going to serve you so, so well!"
Dr Mary McMillan has some words of encouragement for her younger self. Now a Biomedical scientist and a Senior Lecturer at University of New England School of Science and Technology, she's a country NSW girl who's paved an amazing career in STEM.
00:00
[Music]
00:05
Hi Mary
00:06
it's me, future Mary. Right now I'm
00:10
imagining that you are
00:11
probably either out riding a horse
00:13
somewhere maybe up at the hardest
00:15
pony club
00:16
or you've got your nose deep in a book
00:18
good news is
00:20
not much has changed on either of those
00:21
fronts you still love horses
00:23
and you are still reading everything
00:26
in sight
00:27
right now my job is a senior lecturer in
00:30
biomedical science
00:32
which i know sounds really fancy
00:34
basically what it means is i work at a
00:36
university
00:37
and i teach science and i also get to do
00:39
research
00:40
and my research is about understanding
00:42
more about the human body
00:44
and how it works. Look i know right now
00:48
you do have kind of an idea of what you
00:50
want to do
00:51
when you grow up but i want to tell you
00:53
that
00:54
there are just so many more options for
00:57
you in science
00:58
than you might realize right now being a
01:00
vet
01:01
being a doctor being a forensic
01:03
scientist
01:04
those are all amazing jobs and things
01:06
that i know you're really interested in
01:09
but science is so so much more than just
01:12
those few things that you might have
01:13
seen around
01:14
a small country town what i'd love you
01:17
to do
01:17
is keep your eyes and your ears open
01:20
keep exploring
01:21
stay really curious and i promise you
01:24
that if you do that
01:26
eventually you are going to find that
01:28
one thing that you really love
01:30
and uh spoiler alert it's genetics
01:35
i know the idea of finishing school and
01:37
heading off to university is like
01:40
really daunting of course it is you're
01:42
the first one in your family to do this
01:45
and that's really hard even though
01:47
they're really supportive
01:48
they don't really have so much idea of
01:50
what it's like to study at university
01:53
the good thing is that you know even
01:56
though you have to leave
01:57
your home and your family and your
01:58
friends when you go to university you
02:01
are going to
02:02
meet so many really amazing people make
02:05
so many new friends
02:07
even a husband you're gonna learn more
02:09
than you ever thought you
02:11
that you could more than you ever
02:12
imagined and
02:14
you're also gonna really fall in love
02:15
with science more than you probably
02:17
thought you would
02:19
i know right now that you are pretty shy
02:22
you sometimes tend to hold yourself back
02:23
a bit
02:24
but i also know that you are stubborn
02:27
you are
02:27
determined you are fiercely independent
02:31
and these things are going to serve you
02:33
so so well on your journey
02:36
but i do want you to remember if you can
02:38
that it's okay to ask for help
02:39
and for advice you're gonna meet so many
02:42
great people who are
02:44
really willing to to mentor you and to
02:46
give you advice
02:47
and to open doors for you so kind of be
02:50
open to those possibilities if you can
02:53
you're especially going to meet a huge
02:55
number of the most amazing
02:56
women scientists who really just get
02:59
you know what it's like to to be a
03:02
scientist in the journey that you've
03:03
taken
03:05
i want you to know that choosing science
03:07
has really been the right choice for us
03:10
you have a really challenging and
03:12
interesting job
03:13
you have met amazing people and science
03:16
has even taken you
03:17
all over the world you even get to go to
03:19
Antarctica
03:20
because you have chosen to become a
03:22
scientist
03:24
i'm not going to promise you that it's
03:25
all going to be super easy and it's all
03:27
going to be roses
03:28
but i can tell you that there are so
03:31
many
03:32
scientists you know people just like me
03:35
who
03:35
are out there you know waiting to help
03:38
you
03:39
waiting to cheer you on so what are you
03:41
waiting for
03:43
come and join us
03:49
[Music]
03:58
wow
04:00
[Music]
04:15
you
Renee Noble
"Coding can change the world and girls HAVE to be involved in that! It is scary when you first start out - but you do belong here."
Renee Noble shares some words of encouragement for her younger self. Now a Software Engineer at Grok Learning, she's a Coffs Harbour local that paved an impressive career in STEM.
00:00
[Music]
00:05
hi renee
00:06
it's me your future self if i have to
00:09
guess right now you're
00:10
sitting on the couch doing your homework
00:12
whilst also catching up on the latest
00:14
crime and medical dramas yes vomit is a
00:17
great studying mechanism
00:18
i can prove it now well if you can tear
00:21
yourself away i hope you get out for a
00:22
boogie board down at jenny beach
00:24
i remember sometimes we get down to the
00:26
beach twice some days
00:27
the magic of cox harbour is living only
00:29
a 10-minute drive from the water
00:32
while some things have changed some
00:34
definitely happened you've been living
00:35
in sydney for 10 years now
00:37
and while sydney has okay beaches it's
00:39
an hour on the bus to any of them so get
00:41
out to the beach while you still can
00:43
what hasn't changed is you're still a
00:45
huge nerd
00:46
in fact you've accomplished your dream
00:48
of becoming a professional nerd
00:50
but not how you might expect so you're
00:53
probably wondering what you do then
00:55
well you're a software engineer at a
00:57
company called drop learning where they
00:58
teach kids to code online
01:00
you're also the national director of the
01:02
girls programming network
01:04
that's right you're a coder that codes
01:05
in order to teach girls to code
01:08
that probably doesn't make a lot of
01:09
sense to you right now especially since
01:11
you don't know what coding is
01:13
you're 15 at the moment so your current
01:16
understanding of coding is the double
01:18
hacking you saw on ncas
01:21
i've got some filling in to do you're
01:24
really into maths and science at the
01:25
moment
01:26
and that doesn't change you score a tv
01:28
show on the bionic eye
01:29
and you really want to be a medical
01:31
researcher but soon you'll realize that
01:33
research requires a lot of reading and
01:35
repetition and it might not be for you
01:37
you also realize you love making things
01:40
combined with your love of maths and
01:41
science
01:41
you decided to study chemical
01:43
engineering and chemistry
01:46
you thought i was going to say coding
01:47
didn't you no
01:49
at the moment you still think it's
01:52
plugging and printing i can't see by
01:53
anyone who wanna study that for three
01:55
years
01:55
[Music]
01:57
you go up to university learn how to
01:59
engineer chemicals
02:00
you're living on campus and one night
02:02
some friends decide to teach you how to
02:03
code
02:04
you think of the basics fast and it's
02:06
actually pretty cool
02:07
for the first time you'll think maybe i
02:09
should do a voting course
02:11
and eventually you do it's scary at
02:13
first
02:14
especially being surrounded by people
02:16
mostly boys who've been phoning for
02:17
years
02:18
but you stick with it soon you realize
02:21
you're really good at algorithms
02:22
all that maths you left in high school
02:24
it has a use and you cram a computer
02:26
science major into your degree
02:28
after five years you graduate and you've
02:30
already done cool things by combining
02:32
coding with sustainable engineering
02:34
you've also started volunteering for the
02:36
girls programming network gpn for sure
02:38
where women teach girls how to code at
02:40
first you thought you were too much of a
02:42
beginner to teach coding
02:43
but joining shows you how much you do
02:45
know and how much you actually didn't
02:47
when it's not just boys in the room
02:50
eventually the girl's product network
02:51
will need someone to step up and run it
02:53
for a little while
02:54
you'll be told it's easy and hardly any
02:56
work
02:57
don't believe them but do it anyway
03:00
you'll soon find out there's more to the
03:01
job
03:02
and you'll make even more work for
03:03
yourself adding new ideas
03:05
but you only have a short time at the
03:06
helm so why not
03:08
well i'm still writing that program five
03:11
years on
03:12
i threw that little sydney outreach
03:14
program until we couldn't fit
03:16
any more girls in the building but it
03:18
didn't stop there
03:19
i decided to take the program national
03:21
we now have six year notes in cities
03:23
around australia
03:24
with three more starting up soon we
03:27
teach over 1500 girls to code a year and
03:29
we've been working on an online program
03:31
to help rural girls get involved
03:33
i love gpn because it's the opportunity
03:36
to give girls what i wish i'd known
03:38
earlier
03:38
she tells them that cody can change the
03:40
world and girls have to be involved in
03:42
that
03:43
also it's really fun this passion for
03:45
sharing a love of coding with kids that
03:47
got me my job at brock learning too
03:49
where we work every day to help make
03:51
coding education accessible to
03:53
every child so
03:56
weird story right there's definitely
03:58
some things i wish i'd known when i was
04:00
your age
04:01
firstly give coding a try earlier might
04:04
save you this whole
04:05
roundabout journey and too many women
04:07
take the long path
04:08
to a carrier and test secondly
04:11
you do belong here it's scary when you
04:14
first start out
04:15
you feel like you'll never catch up and
04:17
you don't get all that cool nerd jokes
04:18
and references
04:20
well you'll learn the coding faster than
04:21
you think and
04:23
turns out the cool nurse notes aren't
04:25
that cool you'll find people who share
04:27
your interests
04:28
and your place in the world gk is great
04:30
for that
04:32
finally don't be so quick to assume that
04:34
everybody knows everything you know and
04:36
more
04:37
the world of technology is huge there's
04:39
so many things to learn no one can ever
04:40
know them all
04:42
and you bring your own unique
04:43
perspective and experience to every
04:45
situation
04:47
the world of technology is about more
04:49
than coding
04:50
it's about collaboration communication
04:53
and ideas
04:54
and we need every person everybody at
04:56
that table
04:57
especially women and girls
05:11
[Music]
05:26
Dr Alex Thomson
"Make sure that you ask people for help and you ask people for opportunities, and never lose that inquisitive nature."
Dr Alex Thomson shares her story to her younger self. Now a Manager of the Deep Green Biotech Hub, and a Subject Coordinator and Lecturer in the School of Life Sciences at UTS she loves her job and how it contributes to environmental sustainability.
00:00
[Music]
00:07
hey alex
00:07
it's me your future self if i know 12
00:11
year old me correctly you're probably
00:12
running through the bush trying to find
00:14
the best place to put a swing
00:16
trying to convince your dad to let you
00:17
go on the tractor and trying to find the
00:19
best way to get down to the beach the
00:21
afternoon
00:22
well right now i am the manager of the
00:25
deep green biotech hub at the university
00:27
of technology sydney
00:29
i think you'd be pretty stoked to have
00:30
this job it's doing lots of things that
00:32
you love when you're a kid
00:34
i get to help businesses become more
00:36
sustainable
00:37
develop innovative new products and work
00:40
in an industry that is trying to address
00:42
things like climate change
00:44
i know that sounds pretty far off what
00:45
you thought you were going to do when
00:46
you're in high school
00:48
but you'll get there and i know that
00:51
your favorite subjects are things like
00:52
english and biology and guess what
00:54
you'll be able to mash them both
00:56
together by helping people to
00:57
communicate
00:58
science more effectively it's going to
01:00
be weird for a little while
01:02
going off to uni and doing something
01:03
that feels like it just doesn't quite
01:05
fit
01:06
but you'll find your feet it's going to
01:07
take a little while but you get into a
01:09
space that you really love
01:10
and start applying skills and working in
01:13
a field that you're really really
01:14
passionate about
01:16
i know that it seems like a lot because
01:19
right now
01:19
in high school it feels like the only
01:21
two things that are out there is to
01:23
become a doctor
01:24
or to become a pharmacist but there are
01:27
so many other fields of science out
01:28
there and so many different jobs and
01:30
some jobs you'll even carve out for
01:32
yourself
01:34
i grew up in a town called cross harbour
01:36
which is about seven hours north
01:38
in sydney and there weren't many big
01:40
cities around there weren't many big
01:41
shops but it was a really nice place to
01:43
grow up
01:45
it seemed really daunting growing up
01:46
there because i loved science
01:48
but the only careers that seemed to be
01:50
out there for things like me
01:52
were being a pharmacist or working in
01:54
the medical field
01:56
i had some family members who were in
01:58
science which was really
02:00
inspiring but i just didn't feel like
02:02
working in
02:03
medicine or something else like that was
02:05
really the right fit for me
02:07
i loved growing up around nature and i
02:09
loved growing up in
02:10
the rainforest and this was something
02:12
that really inspired me to
02:14
continue working in the fields that they
02:15
were but there's something that i
02:17
remember from high school that really
02:18
resonated with me and that i was
02:20
continually told that the careers that
02:22
i'll have in the future
02:23
don't exist today and that it's entirely
02:26
true for the career that i currently
02:27
have
02:28
this job that i currently have didn't
02:30
exist even five years ago and
02:32
now there's all sorts of people like me
02:33
popping up across the country that are
02:35
using their passions in things like
02:36
climate change and sustainability
02:38
to work directly with businesses and
02:40
helping them develop new products
02:42
the other thing that i really loved
02:43
doing in high school was talking but i
02:44
didn't know
02:45
that there was a career that could help
02:47
me talk about science
02:48
in in a way that actually earned me
02:50
money but i also lecture undergrad
02:53
and go out and communicate science so
02:55
i'm able to pull these two things that i
02:57
really like doing in high school
02:59
and actually make a career out of it as
03:00
well
03:02
when i was in science in school i i
03:04
really loved it but i wasn't really sure
03:06
about how i could use these skills
03:08
in a way that gave myself a career but i
03:10
think it takes some time and it really
03:12
takes perseverance
03:13
and making sure that you ask questions
03:15
you ask people for help
03:17
you ask people for opportunities and you
03:19
never lose that inquisitive nature
03:20
that you have as a kid because it is so
03:22
essential to having a career in science
03:25
go out there and give it a go because it
03:27
really is amazing and these are really
03:29
the careers of the future
03:38
[Music]
03:58
do
04:00
Brenna Nichols
"We're told that it is a disadvantage to live remotely. You are strong because of this, not in spite of this, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. It allows us to think differently and tackle problems in ways that others don't see."
Brenna Nichols hails from Duramana, about 30kms out of Bathurst. She's studying Civil and Environmental Engineering at UTS and is doing some amazing things!
00:00
[Music]
00:06
hi brenna it's me
00:08
a few years down the track you're
00:10
probably home in bathurst right now
00:12
out in the paddock helping dad fix yet
00:14
another fits
00:16
well i have some good news for you on
00:18
that front who will eventually pay
00:20
people to construct a whole new fence
00:23
around the house
00:24
so your days of using a wire strainer
00:26
are for the moment
00:28
gone right now i'm in my
00:31
third year studying civil and
00:33
environmental engineering
00:34
however right now you are conflicted
00:38
about you want to do
00:38
when you graduate high school you're
00:41
worried about making the wrong decision
00:43
and ruining your future well
00:46
i'm here to tell you that you made the
00:49
right
00:50
decision the best decision you could
00:53
have
00:54
you chose to study engineering and well
00:58
you love it it challenges you
01:01
it drives you it makes you think about
01:04
and identify problems that people face
01:07
daily
01:08
and how vital a role engineering plays
01:10
in solving these
01:13
engineering has opened so many doors for
01:16
you
01:16
it has granted you a magnitude of
01:18
opportunities that you wouldn't have had
01:20
otherwise
01:21
these range from the friends you've made
01:23
and your amazing mentor
01:25
to your internship and overseas
01:27
university experiences
01:29
in poland and cambodia of course
01:32
that's all ahead of you now but let me
01:35
tell you
01:36
you will have you have so
01:40
much to look forward to and it is
01:43
because of your background
01:44
the struggles you've been through and
01:46
those you will go through
01:48
that these opportunities have been
01:50
available
01:52
when you grow up on a property 30 odd
01:54
kilometers from ballast
01:56
in a house that we can walk out the
01:58
front door
01:59
turn in a full circle and not see a
02:03
single neighbor it is great
02:07
however we're told that a
02:10
it is a disadvantage to live remotely
02:13
with only satellite internet connection
02:15
and no mobile phone service well to a
02:18
certain extent
02:19
this is certainly very true i
02:23
don't believe that it encompasses the
02:25
whole story
02:27
you are strong because of this not in
02:30
spite of this
02:31
and don't let anyone tell you otherwise
02:35
i believe
02:36
growing up in a regional area gave us an
02:39
advantage over kids that grew up in a
02:40
city
02:41
it allows us to think differently to
02:44
view
02:44
and tackle problems in ways that others
02:48
just don't see and this is a major asset
02:51
in stem streams we are able to consider
02:54
challenges holistically and think about
02:56
it from all the different angles
02:59
picture your current scenario you're
03:02
right in the paddock
03:04
kangaroos have made giant holes in the
03:07
boundary vents
03:08
big enough for the neighbor's sheep to
03:09
get through and you have limited
03:11
resources and tools on hand
03:13
but you have to find a way to fix this
03:16
hole here
03:17
today you do it because you have to
03:20
right you had a problem you had a set
03:24
list of resources and tools available
03:27
and you developed a creative innovative
03:31
solution that is just what engineering
03:34
is
03:36
the skills you have developed growing up
03:38
regionally are completely transferable
03:40
into stem careers
03:42
engineering is not just numbers not at
03:45
all
03:46
it's finding ways to think about
03:48
problems and solutions
03:50
that others haven't thought of before
03:52
and you do that
03:53
every single day because of your
03:55
upbringing and that is why
03:57
you love engineering when i first moved
04:01
to sydney for university at 18
04:03
i was worried about leaving everything i
04:05
knew behind
04:06
i was concerned that i would be
04:08
disadvantaged by coming
04:09
from a country background as i didn't
04:11
have access to the same opportunities
04:13
other
04:14
students have i've moved away from my
04:16
friends and family
04:18
but i put my best foot forward by
04:20
connecting with like-minded
04:22
creative dedicated and innovative people
04:25
and now i love the life i've created and
04:28
guess what you will too i just want you
04:32
to remember
04:33
you are brave you
04:36
are smart you have individual talents
04:40
that no one else has be
04:44
proud of who you are where you have come
04:46
from and what tragedies you've overcome
04:49
to be where you are today just know
04:52
that from wherever you are you can go
04:55
anywhere in life that you choose
04:58
coming from a regional background will
05:01
serve you
05:02
in so many ways that you don't think are
05:05
possible
05:06
the skills you learn they will be
05:08
applicable in
05:09
every aspect of your life oh
05:13
and one last thing the reason
05:16
that dad finally paid to build a fence
05:18
around the house
05:19
well in a few months you are going to
05:22
have an adorable sneaky
05:24
little call you puppy as part of your
05:26
family so that's something to look
05:28
forward to as well
05:29
you have a very bright future ahead of
05:31
you i wish you all the best
05:40
[Music]
05:50
do
05:54
[Music]
Emma Barnett
"You will love defying expectations and utilising the skills that only you have."
Emma Barnett has a lot to say to her younger self. Now working as both a physics educator at the University of Melbourne and education office at Swinburne University of Technology, she originally hails from 'Deni' in regional NSW. At ten years old, she never would be expected the career that she has.
00:00
[Music]
00:06
hi emma
00:07
it's me your future self you grew up in
00:10
deniliquin
00:11
in southern new south wales so right now
00:13
you're probably camping with your family
00:15
outbush
00:16
swag rolled out damper cooking on the
00:18
fire
00:19
waiting for the milky way to line up the
00:21
night sky
00:23
right now i'm working for two different
00:25
universities i'm an outreach and
00:27
education
00:28
officer at swinburne university of
00:30
technology
00:31
and a senior teaching fellow for first
00:32
year physics at the university of
00:34
melbourne
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at 10 years old you never would have
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expected a career like this
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when you think about your career options
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you look to the people around you
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you are surrounded by tradies farmers
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accountants
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teachers local businesses but none of
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those really appeal to you
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there aren't many scientists in denny so
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when you think of science you put
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someone in a white coat mixing chemicals
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in a lab
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it'll take you many years to understand
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just how broad
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the stem field really is in my
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outreach job i get to use my creativity
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and organizational skills
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i create fun science programs for people
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like you
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to help them explore the wonder of the
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universe
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i'm surrounded by such a variety of
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people where our different backgrounds
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actually make us stronger as a team
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as a physics teaching fellow i teach
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first-year physics students
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i get to help develop the content that
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they learn
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while managing a team of tutors using a
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multi-faceted
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skill set means my day-to-day work is
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always new
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and exciting and i have so many
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different
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pathways available to me as i continue
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in my career
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studying physics let me understand the
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inner workings of the world around us
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i've studied programming i've worked
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more maths than i thought even existed
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i mean i am from the future so i could
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lie and say that i'm a rocket scientist
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working for nasa
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but my brothers already make those jokes
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plus i don't really know how this whole
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time travel thing works and i don't want
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you ruining all my hard work
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but you didn't go into science straight
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away even at the start of year 11
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you weren't going to do a single science
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subject because you didn't think that
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was a career for you
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when you told your science teacher that
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she nearly fainted
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so you agreed to do biology
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then by chance your ancient history
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subject didn't run
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so you agreed to do physics you ended up
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loving the sciences so much
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that you switched from modern history to
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chemistry
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halfway through year 11. you spent the
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winter break studying six months of
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chemistry
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you set the media test and got the top
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mark
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you nerd i think that was the moment you
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decided science might just be for you
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now you're probably worried about how
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you'll be disadvantaged coming from a
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rural background
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you don't have science role models other
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than those you've seen in movies
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you didn't get to do expensive
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experiments at school
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you've never seen a university and no
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one in your immediate family has a
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degree
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people have high expectations for you
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and you're worried about leaving your
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friends and family behind to travel 300
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kilometers to go to uni
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i won't lie they can be tough challenges
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to overcome
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but you will overcome them and you'll be
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so much stronger for it growing up in a
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rural community
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you develop many skills that people in
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the cities just don't have
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strengths you didn't know you had when
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you moved to melbourne you'll find that
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your background
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sets you apart because you'll be capable
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of so much more
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physics is a male dominated field but
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you'll love
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defying expectations and utilizing the
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skills that only you have
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so don't be afraid to take up the
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challenge your old school motto must
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face the task which you will
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i still love to go out camping and stare
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up at the night sky
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but now i have such a vast understanding
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of the universe that we're in
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and i am fascinated by just staring at
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the milky way
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your decision to study physics has
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gotten you this far
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who knows where you'll go next
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[Music]
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you
Did you grow up in a regional or rural town and are now working in STEM? Share your story with your younger self on social media and add the hashtag #mySTEMstory.