My name is Katherine Tanner. I live in Columbus Ohio with my parents and brother, but I grew up twenty minutes outside of the city in a suburb called Westerville. I was home schooled in my early years, an experience that allowed my parents to expose us to STEM early. Whatever science topic I wanted to study, my parents would make it happen. My older brother and I spent time learning and watching constellations, and we visited many parks on field trips to learn about the local wildlife.
My most memorable experiences with STEM in my life have so far been with my robotics team. With the team I began to more fully realize the practical applications of what I had been learning in school. Physics is more useful than solving a problem a teacher gives; it helped us as a team figure out build strategy for the robot. Without knowing exactly what the bot needs to do, we can’t build a properly functioning robot.
In school, I learned to enjoy STEM from an early age through engaging activities and projects. From typing games to familiarize me with a computer to examining anything and everything I could find under a microscope, my early education built the framework for me to enjoy and appreciate STEM. This appreciate has only grown since my childhood and began to take a more permanent path in high school. Until I began participating more frequently in activities outside of school, including sports and music lessons, I did not fully understand how important STEM was to me. My STEM activities became my top priorities. They were the classes for which I would do the homework first, the tests I would study the hardest for, and the team I put above everything else.
My pursuit of engineering within STEM was solidified after two years on a robotics team. I learned how widely applicable varying fields of engineering can be and how they help solve problems across the world. STEM has always been a priority, but I did not narrow it down to engineering until very recently. Engineers are practical problem-solvers that are needed in every industry. The education is challenging, but the knowledge and use are rewarding far beyond any difficulties in achieving them.