Three female speakers took the stage at the TEDxLMC event hosted by the Women in Stem Club and Student Life March 29 in honor of Women’s History Month. Audience members settled into their seats to hear about artificial intelligence, mediocrity and a growth mindset.
Shanyda Soe, president of the WINS club, was determined to organize an event for students this semester. Inspired by her interest in Ted Talks she organized TEDxLMC centralized around the theme of Thriving in STEM, gathering speakers with different backgrounds and experiences to share a speech.
“I hoped students would find inspiration and motivation that would leave them with a lasting impact for their future STEM careers,” said Soe. “The messages from the speakers would make the students reflect on their potential and ability to thrive in STEM no matter who they are, which background they are from, and what race they are.”
As students funneled into the Student Union Conference Room, some came hearing about the event through fliers posted on campus or through their professors.
Cristian Leal Tapia, an aspiring dental hygienist, came in support of Women’s History Month, while others came to learn something new within the STEM field.
The event opened with guest speaker, Lucretia Shaw, the founder of Galaxy Kids Code Club in Downtown Brentwood. Shaw has been connected with the WINS club and Mesa program at LMC and has hired students to work at her computer training school. Shaw spoke on artificial intelligence’s impact on the job market, and thriving in the field of computer science in the age of AI.
“I wanted to ultimately answer the question, ‘Are we in competition with AI?’ and if so, how do we actually compete with AI which everyone thinks has taken over the world,” said Shaw.
Following her speech, Rebecca Kneel enlightened the audience with a performance on the keyboard acting as a segway to the Director of the LMC Honors Program Jennifer Saito. She spoke on mediocrity and excellence in conjunction with the Four Burner Theory. When she invited the crowd to shout out figures of excellence, one voice shouted LeBron James while other students in the back named Beyoncé.
After Saito’s speech, Jennifer Beatty, a Ph.D. candidate in Marine Biology and Biological Oceanography at USC, encouraged the audience of aspiring STEM students to embrace a growth mindset despite entering a challenging field with demanding careers.
“I hope that people will realize that thriving in STEM comes from a place of thriving personally, so it’s not just about hitting certain accolades,” said Beatty. “We have to remember we are people before we’re scientists.”
The event concluded with a round table activity, featuring different majors and career opportunities for students with similar interests to connect over refreshments.
Soe expressed feeling pleased with the outcome of the event and the hard work the members of WINS and Student Life put into helping her coordinate it. In the future, Soe is open to bringing TEDx back with a different theme and another line-up of speakers.
