Jessica Ziegler: Thoughts on WE12

1. How do we get high school girls interested in engineering? In the talk 'Engaging High School Girls through Service Learning Projects' I learned that high school girls don't respond to a one-day event as positively as younger girls do; they need something that they can commit to. This program had groups of the high school girls build a device for children with a disability. The parents of the child told the girls what kind of device they needed to help their child perform some task. Supervised by professional SWE volunteers, the high school girls built and presented these devices.
2. I learned from a NASA astronaut that even the best and the brightest don't always get what they want the first time. If you really want something you were turned down for, find some way to improve your credentials and try again.