Natural curiosity, supportive mentorship and exposure to innovations and opportunities in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) related fields have underpinned a drive to succeed for Beerwah State High year 12 students Poppy Taylor and Nikita Emhofer.
Both young women are academic high flyers who have embraced STEM related studies in a bid to follow their dreams towards a career path in medicine.
Poppy, who is currently studying Maths, Bio-Chemistry and Physics said she had always been passionate about science subjects, however she said her interest really took off in year 10 after being selected as one of 50 girls from around the state to attend a specially curated STEM ‘girl power’ camp.
Poppy said this experience allowed her to see first-hand where a STEM related career or study path could lead.
“We visited the University and spoke with people in science careers like researchers and engineers. This was my first experience meeting people like this, and it made me realise this was what I also wanted to do!
It was an amazing experience and really opened my eyes as I hadn’t previously realised these opportunities existed,” Poppy explained.
Nikita said she had always loved looking into how things worked and had always been fascinated at the mechanics of how things worked together so she was naturally drawn to following a science path.
She said she had always wanted to do medicine and was currently doing Maths and Bio-Chemistry. She said she had always found her teachers to be highly supportive and encouraging which allowed her to build her confidence in her ability to achieve her goals.
“Our teachers have gone above and beyond to support our learning with mentorship, tutoring, access to additional resources and connections and have always encouraged us to be more curious – that’s basically how I became interested in science because of curiosity!” Nikita said.
“Their support and care about our education has given us the confidence in our ability to take on big subjects that could have been overwhelming,” she added.
Poppy said she found it inspiring to be academically supported and to have teachers who could help explore options and be open to questions and discussion.
She said although some young women might find STEM subjects intimidating – she said seeing more women in science research, successful STEM related careers and leadership roles was exciting. Nikita said she would like to see even more women represented in science and maths teaching roles in the future.
“I think young women should explore STEM career paths and not be off put by what can initially appear to be intimidating subjects – with the right support and encouragement these can be completely accessible career and subject paths,” Nikita said.
Both young women have been part of the school’s Pinnacle excellence program since year 7 and both have listed a study preference to attend James Cook University and enter Bachelor of Medicine degrees.
Main image: Nikita Emhofer and Poppy Taylor
