My 4-step guide to becoming a strong, successful young woman in STEM

By Sanya Surya According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, in 2019, only 36.3% of medical doctors in the United States were women. As of 2019, on average, women made up only around 24% of national assemblies worldwide. While numbers like these have been steadily increasing by the year, at times, I find myself still feeling worried about my goals to work in both the medical field and politics as a young woman of color. I have experienced imposter syndrome in male-dominated spaces in STEM throughout my life and felt demotivated about reaching my goals. However, as I prepare to head to a guaranteed admission medical program this fall at a university that supports my passions and dreams, I’m proud to say I’ve learned to overcome many obstacles that I’ve faced in these fields. So how did I do it? Allow me to walk you through my 4-step process (inspired by the strongest women in my life!) to become a more confident, dedicated, and successful young woman in STEM! Seize opportunities, be authentic, be committed, and stay humble.Step 1: Every opportunity is a good opportunity. From an early age, my mom taught me that whenever an opportunity comes knocking at my door, I should take it - that every opportunity is a good one because I will always end up learning important lessons about life through the process. I applied this philosophy to countless experiences in high school. On my very first day of freshman year, I noticed a flyer on the wall for dance team auditions. As someone who only had a little bit of experience with jazz, contemporary, and hip hop, but had plenty of experience with Indian classical dance styles, the first thought that crossed my mind was, Do I belong on this kind of team? Am I good enough to get in? Then I remembered my mom’s advice and put my doubts out of my mind. I immediately signed up to audition, and to my surprise, I was selected for the team a week later.Being on the dance team that year taught me many incredible lessons. I learned never to doubt my abilities, that I am capable of earning a place at any table I want to be at, and most importantly, I learned how to prioritize activities and interests in my life. I ended up leaving the dance team at the end of the year in order to make room for activities that I realized I didn’t want to live without: choir, theatre, my other styles of dance, academics, and career exploration opportunities. But I have never once regretted taking the opportunity to join the dance team when I did, because doing so helped me grow tremendously as a person.Over the next three years, more and more opportunities came knocking at my door. At first sight of a medical camp for high school students in my state, I signed up to attend it.  That camp gave me one of my first shadowing experiences, and those experiences were vital in my decision to further explore and pursue gynecology and politics surrounding reproductive healthcare specifically. When the peer-led sex education group that taught my health class mentioned that I could apply to possibly join their program, I put in my application right away and ended up with three years of life-changing moments. My OHSU internship got cancelled before my senior year because of the pandemic and an environmental chemistry professor reached out to me about a replacement opportunity. I immediately took it because I knew the value of building relationships with as many people as I could and learning about science in any form available to me. Each of these opportunities was one I could have easily passed up, but by saying “yes” to every one of them, I grew into the person I am today.     Step 2: Be authentic. Always.In a world where social media can change how a person is perceived and discourage people from being themselves, authenticity is hard. But that’s why striving to be authentic in our daily lives is so important, and something worth being proud of! As you can probably tell by now, my mom has always been full of good advice, so allow me to share one more piece of her advice with you: the most important asset you can bring to the table is yourself. Not how many awards you have, not how great your grades are, not your test scores - just your pure, authentic self. As a woman, and especially a woman of color, a lot of times you will be the only person of your identity in the room in the STEM world. That means that your experiences and opinions are extremely unique and desperately need to be heard, so speak from your heart, always stay true to yourself, and make people listen to what you have to say! In my own life, I have stayed authentic by picking my career goal because I’m passionate about it, not because someone in my life pressured me into it. I’ve also stayed authentic by being real and unfiltered around people - I talk about my opinions without shame with the intent to share my knowledge with others while acknowledging that I have much to learn from every person I meet and my opinions can and likely will change over time.Step 3: If you commit to something, stay committed to it.I believe that scientific discovery progresses through collaboration, first and foremost. And at the heart of successful collaboration is a shared commitment to a common goal. To be a professional, reliable, successful person, you must master the art of commitment. Becoming good at commitment involves two steps: recognizing if you can commit to a task or project and then doing the work you committed to do. Honestly, I think the first step is the hardest part, and it’s something I continue to work on and find myself struggling with at times. As a Type A, overachieving person, I want to be involved in everything I set my eyes on. Over time, though, I’ve learned that it’s so much better to be committed to the few tasks you’re involved in, than distracted and unreliable in multiple different tasks. So deciding whether or not to say yes to that project your peer asked you to join or saying yes to that second job is a difficult but extremely important part of becoming committed to what you’re working on.Step 4: Stay humble - there is always more to learn!No matter how much you think you know, you will never know it all. The first time I learned this was in the performing arts as a young budding singer and dancer. My gurus in Indian vocal music and dance showed me how even at their level of expertise, they still spent much of their time learning more from other artists. I started to notice this in my intended career field too: the best doctors spend their time constantly reading new scientific journals, learning new techniques for medical treatment, and conducting their own studies too. I realized that’s the kind of person and doctor I want to be when I’m older - constantly learning and growing to be the best version of myself possible and to help those around me more and more.These four steps - seizing opportunity, being authentic, being committed, and staying humble - have helped me get to where I am now. As I start my college journey and work towards being in the medical field, I hope to learn more life skills like these to incorporate into my daily life. No matter what age you’re at, what career you’re hoping to be in, or what your interests are, I hope these steps can help you feel more confident and successful in your life! About the Author:Sanya Surya is a rising freshman at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Honors College Guaranteed Admission Program for Medicine. Through this BS/MD program in Richmond, Virginia, she hopes to pursue a career in medicine and possibly public health as well, with a special focus on women’s healthcare. In high school, Sanya was involved in peer support and education, as well as the performing arts. She was a peer sex educator in Planned Parenthood’s Teen Council program and a peer crisis intervention specialist on a youth crisis line. Through her work in these organizations, she found her passion for advocacy. At the age of seventeen, she was honored to speak to the Oregon Department of Education about implementing more inclusive sex education in Oregon schools. As a trained dancer and singer of multiple Indian and Western styles, Sanya actively performed in school and community events, became a thespian in her high school’s theatre troupe, and took on leadership roles in her choir. As the Distinguished Young Woman of Oregon for 2021, Sanya was proud to represent her home state at the Distinguished Young Women 64th national competition, where she showcased her cultural heritage through dance and continuously expressed her excitement to pursue a career in the medical field. In college, Sanya hopes to learn from new experiences and inspire young girls around the world to follow their dreams in STEM and beyond.