Emily Hernandez didn’t wait until college to start recruiting fellow minorities to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. She started as an eighth-grader during a University of Memphis camp called Girls Experiencing Engineering near her Germantown, Tennessee, hometown.
Today, the junior in is still recruiting minorities to engineering through the at . Hernandez, who serves as secretary of the group, says she wants to see more diversity in the engineering field.
Last summer, Hernandez interned at Intel, mentoring girls during the Intel-sponsored Girls Who Code summer immersion program.
“I talked to them about how being a female engineer among men isn’t as intimidating as they thought,” she says.
Last year, Hernandez was a student diversity mentor. She met with an incoming freshman every other week to help him complete assignments and develop a resume. Most importantly, she encouraged him to keep going.
“I reminded him during any struggle that he could do it and that a career in STEM was really a possibility for him,” she says.
Reviewed 2014-09-15