"When we see people like us doing something we believed to be hard, we reevaluate our potential to do it. Now think about that... isn't that powerful!"
That quote is from my graduation commencement speech that sparked this entire journey. During that speech I highlighted how representation can serve as a key to unlock the idea of doing the impossible in our minds; I know it did for me during my pursuit of my chemical engineering degree.
However, I didn’t always realize that until someone asked me at a Women in STEM event how I became an engineer, and I was lost for words. Here I was in my last semester of study and I couldn’t tell you how I made it.
I thought so hard about it that I started daydreaming about it in one of my polymers classes. That’s when I realized I didn’t do it on my own; and I started writing a symbolic story of my journey to retrace my steps. In the end, I called it, ‘The Great Fishing Hole’ and shared it at the end of my commencement speech as an example of the power of representation and support.
In the story, a young girl learns about a new fishing hole outside of her neighborhood but doubts her ability to get there along the way.
However, along her journey, she meets so many people who not only look like her but also support her attempt to see the new fishing hole. The girls' journey mirrors my experience when I arrived at the College of Engineering, "Could I really do this hard thing?" However, organizations like the National Society of Black Engineers and Women in Engineering served as mirrors showing me what I could do and giving me the confidence to continue on.
After my commencement speech, a few parents from the audience came up to me and encouraged me to make it a children’s book! Two years later I finally finished but who knew books were so expensive…
I almost didn't press the button to launch the kickstarter campaign.
In order to fund the printing of the book I started creating a crowdfunding account after learning from a friend about Kickstarter. However, it felt so weird to ask strangers for money to fund a book they’d never seen before. I honestly, almost didn’t launch the Kickstarter campaign until I heard Stacey Abrams concession speech.
I saw how impactful her journey in itself was. It wasn't the destination, it was the attempt... the boldness... the audacity... it was her. I realized that even if I failed I was living out my mission to be a mirror and exposing others to another way to try to go after their goals. So I clicked the button and 45 days later over 146 backers from across the USA, Canada and the UK brought the vision to life!
I’ll forever be grateful for the work we did here… and we’re only just getting started!
(see the kickstarter history in the form of backer updates here!)