Thank You Utah!

This past week I had the pleasure of being the keynote speaker for the STEM Best Practices Conference in Ogden, Utah. This conference, put on by the STEM Action Center, provided educators with an opportunity to get reinvigorated, re-inspired, and reconnected with peers to help further strengthen their teaching skills in the classroom. The conference was filled with workshops where educators were able to learn new tips, and gain some interesting perspective of various ways they could enhance learning for their students.

In my session, I helped to bring home the theme of the event - "I Am STEM" - by showing exactly what, where, and who STEM truly is. I discussed my journey into science which was filled with ups & down and discouragement from educators. I highlighted how sparking curiosity in students can drive them to previously unknown heights, along with a little bit about my origin story as a first generation Nigerian-Cameroonian.

Having a chance to chat with educators afterwards was even more rewarding, as I heard how my words were a breath of fresh air and opened their eyes to challenges they never knew existed. I was able to realize the true importance of having diversity reflected in the room, and gaining worldly perspective from those that have lived through the struggle. I thrive for moments like this, as this is truly everything that I wanted this Hip Hop Science platform to achieve. Strengthening a love and understanding for STEM, and inspiring the next generation of future game changers. Just the first of many more keynote & workshop sessions to come this summer!