this summer after my sophomore year I
made a decision that would change my
life
it was the same decision that many teens
will either soon make or will have
already made wear to work over the
summer for most of us the jobs we take
over the summer are basically any job we
can find and they’re usually not very
interesting
the goal is typically to make a bit of
money maybe save up for college pay for
a car or just have some spending money
to hang out with friends and these
motivations are completely valid I
wanted the same things too I saw a job
opening at a smoothie shop that paid
slightly over minimum wage plus you got
a free smoothie at the end of each shift
I love smoothies with a passion
so this sounded like a pretty good deal
to me but I had another option an
organization called the Kansas City stem
alliance offered me the opportunity to
volunteer at some of their summer app
developing camps for those of you who
don’t know stem stands for science
technology engineering and mathematics
and while the money and free smoothies
really tempted me I ended up taking the
volunteer position with the stem
Alliance so why would I a broke high
schooler with a passion for smoothies
they’re not a paid position in favor of
an unpaid one well it was because a job
with the stem Alliance spoke to an even
greater passion of mine a passion for
supporting girls and technology you see
back in the 5th grade I had attended one
of those summer app developing camps and
had learned how to make my own
applications for smartphones it was
especially cool because since there was
only girls I felt safe and supported and
coding in fact I had such a positive
experience that have continued to set in
computer programming after the camp
despite being the only girl in many of
my later computer science classrooms it
was that initial experience where I felt
safe and excited
about coding that has allowed me to
persevere
so I worked at the stem alliance and I
had a terrific time that summer helping
for other young girls have the same
experiences that I did it was definitely
a valuable experience much more than
money couldn’t have given me
so when I think about my life after
these summer camps I’m reminded of a
video game there is this weird game I
used to play called Katamari Damacy in
the game you play as a space alien who
is given the task of creating new
planets and stars to do this you have a
sphere called a katamari which you roll
along the earth but camp objects to make
it larger it’s kind of like how you roll
up with snowballs on the ground to make
it grow bigger you start off by picking
up small things like paper clips but
eventually you can pick up larger things
like cats people trees and even
buildings and if you’re really good
you’re Katamari gets turned into a new
planet or a new star my life after that
summer has been like playing Katamari
I’ve been able to keep rolling and
picking things up today I would like to
talk to you about how I’ve begun to roll
up the world one thing at a time and how
you can start to as well because while
the summer app camps were the first
thing I picked up they certainly weren’t
the last most of the time one thing led
right into the next
because I had worked at the summer app
developing camps over the summer the
Kansas City Cemil I ins offered me the
opportunity to meet Malala the Nobel
Peace Prize winner from Pakistan Malala
was speaking at the Kauffman Center and
I was invited to join a smaller Q&A
event with other young girls Malala won
her Nobel Peace price because she stood
up for girls rights to be educated after
speaking with her I knew that I could do
more for girls in my own community and
because I had met Malala the sponsors of
her visit asked me to speak to them
about what the experience was like so I
attended the sponsors event and I not
only talked about how amazing it was to
meet Malala but also about my own
passion for girls and technology
because I had spoken about my passion I
got to talk to many of the sponsors
about it including Joey wheeler who is a
CEO of Girl Scouts in this region and
Julie Wilson who is the chief people
officer over at Center Corporation
these women really inspired me to
continue to my word and to support girls
in my community I had recently write
about a club here in Kansas City called
girls who code and I thought that maybe
if I joined it I could learn more about
how to create a year-round girls coding
program however when I attempted to join
the club they told me that it was full
that’s when a light bulb went off if I
could have joined the existing clubs
maybe I could start some new ones so I
talked to people at both the Kansas City
stem Alliance and at my high school
about starting new girls who code clubs
and they both agreed this was probably
the largest thing I had rolled up thus
far because it allowed me to make an
impact on girls year-round and help them
to have a positive view of technology
at the same time I joined the Women’s
Foundation girls Leadership Program this
program gave me the opportunity to
volunteer at TEDx women KC a livestream
event here in Kansas City I worked at
the t-shirt table and asked one of the
coordinators how I could get involved in
future 10 events she told me about
today’s event TEDx youth KC
so my Katamari is growing and so is my
calendar because at this point after
school I’m either going to a TEDx youth
meeting a girl su code meeting a girl’s
leadership meeting a school related
activity meeting and on top of it all I
had homework I’m keeping busy but I’m
happy
the Women’s Foundation also offered me
my next big opportunity big into 1,500
people at their annual luncheon because
of everything I had done and stemmed
thus far and because of all the
leadership experience I had shown here
in Kansas City they asked me if I’d be
willing to speak about what I had
learned from their program at their
luncheon one cool thing is that the girl
who spoke alongside of me Sophia was
Miss Teen Missouri at the time and she
just became Miss Teen USA a second cool
thing is that I got to speak alongside
of Madeleine Albright who was the first
female Secretary of State and Ann
Compton who is an AV student ABC News
White House correspondent I got to speak
with both of these women and they both
encouraged my passion and stem so now
we’re into 2017 and because of some of
the people I had met earlier I’m able to
keep rolling things up
remember those initial app camps that I
had worked at well one of the girls I
had worked with Erin Smith is one of the
amazing speakers today Gianna she asked
me about doing helping her to start a
new program here in Kansas City called
KC stem and it’s with the help of
sponsors from nCWIT we were able to
start a program to help high school and
middle school girls learn not only about
technology but about entrepreneurship
and global issues
also remember how I met Julie Wilson
from Cerner earlier well with her help I
was able to leave school two hours early
every day to go work an internship over
at Cerner I worked in cyber security and
I had multiple amazing experiences
at this point because of everything I
had done I’d begun to earn some
recognition my girls who code clubs got
featured in both simply KC Magazine and
in the Kansas City Star I was an MC wit
national runner-up and state winner of
their aspirations and computing award
and it was at this award ceremony that I
met Taylor Milligan who has become one
of my favorite mentors I got to meet
John Cook the CEO of VML and that
invitation was given to me by another
one of today’s speakers Robert manna
gold I continued to work the internship
over at Cerner and I probably made up
financially for that unpaid summer the
year before
and most recently my Katamari has darted
rolling on a global scale
I was one of the applicants who applied
to attend Weiss ice team camp in
Blantyre Malawi there are 1,100 girls
who applied and they chose 80 from 7
different countries in Africa and 20
from the United States because of
everything I had done in Kansas City so
far I was one of the lucky 20 chosen to
go spend two weeks in Africa learning
from such amazing organizations as NASA
Google Intel the American Society of
microbiology the UN’s Girl up campaign
among many others I had enough amazing
experience there that I could probably
fill up a wholly separate TED talk with
them I got the time I got here just in
time to start school this fall and I
haven’t even got to to mention
everything I’ve been doing but suffice
to say I’ve been keeping busy and
following my passions but that’s how
I’ve been rolling up the world how can
you I hope you can take many lessons
away from my story but there are five
main things I hope you can take away
from today the first is to be passionate
about something the sphere in my Chi
tomorrow game the thing that got this
all rolling was my passion for girls in
tech without that passion I probably
wouldn’t have gone anywhere I know that
if you had asked me two years ago to say
where my passions were I wouldn’t have
had a clue I told you that I had a
passion for smoothies but that wasn’t
really where my passion lied
look you’re out what you like whether
it’s coding photography soccer smoothies
even and then figure out what you like
about these things you like the thrill
of victory capturing important moments
teaching people important skills sipping
a cold fruity beverage as you hang out
with your friends figure out what you
like or don’t like about what you’re
currently doing and then use your
talents to help provide people with a
better experience suddenly you have a
passion
the next thing I hope you can take away
from today is to help others it’s hard
to sometimes realize this especially as
a young person but you know something
that nobody else does you have something
no matter what your age is that you can
help to teach others be a leader create
opportunities for others find as many
ways as you can to support people the
next point that I would like you to take
away is to look beyond the usual jobs
and school related activities you may
see that I didn’t mention my high school
a lot and that wasn’t because I wasn’t
doing cool things with them I was going
to robotics and forensics competitions
and taking multiple college courses
however most of the cool stuff that I
did was outside of school
look into your community for
opportunities this doesn’t mean to not
take opportunities where they are given
to you including in school and job and
jobs but try to find out opportunities
that are outside of your comfort zone
and that leads me directly into my next
point don’t wait for opportunities to
find you and if they don’t do find you
don’t say no because they’re unfamiliar
like I said look outside of your usual
places I mentioned that I’m a part of
the women’s foundation girls Leadership
Program the what the TEDx youth KC team
and I’m also a member of Cerner’s Junior
firsthand ambassadors board activities
that are clearly not related to stem
however I bring my stem knowledge to
help these organizations take every
opportunity you are given including
volunteer opportunities and don’t be
afraid to incorporate your passions into
everything you do and the last thing
that I hope you can take away from what
I’ve said today is to find a mentor to
help you because like in the game you
might be picking up things that may seem
too big for you to handle on your own
make it a point to keep talking to these
mentors as you go
nothing that I have shown you today was
just because I did something sure I may
have said something or helped to lead
something but it was the metrics in my
life who have made all of this possible
for me whether it’s someone who’s
willing to read your emails like my dad
sometimes says for me someone who’s
willing to help you find the next
opportunity
like Martha McCabe did when she helped
me to get the opportunity to meet Malala
or just people who will listen to your
problems like my favorite teachers mrs.
Reynolds mr. Creech Mrs glad back mrs.
Schultz do for me and like how my
favorite mentor Taylor Milligan does and
yes I do need that many people to keep
me sane sometimes find people who can
help you you can’t handle it all on your
own
I sometimes wonder about an alternate
timeline where I take the job making
smoothies maybe it would have led to
difference but equally cool things or
maybe not
I’m happy to be in the timeline that I’m
currently in I have continued I have a
passion for girls and stem they have
continued to push forward and have let
it take me wherever I go I’m happy to
see where I roll my Katamari next and I
hope you two can begin to roll up the
world one thing at a time thank you
[Applause]
made a decision that would change my
life
it was the same decision that many teens
will either soon make or will have
already made wear to work over the
summer for most of us the jobs we take
over the summer are basically any job we
can find and they’re usually not very
interesting
the goal is typically to make a bit of
money maybe save up for college pay for
a car or just have some spending money
to hang out with friends and these
motivations are completely valid I
wanted the same things too I saw a job
opening at a smoothie shop that paid
slightly over minimum wage plus you got
a free smoothie at the end of each shift
I love smoothies with a passion
so this sounded like a pretty good deal
to me but I had another option an
organization called the Kansas City stem
alliance offered me the opportunity to
volunteer at some of their summer app
developing camps for those of you who
don’t know stem stands for science
technology engineering and mathematics
and while the money and free smoothies
really tempted me I ended up taking the
volunteer position with the stem
Alliance so why would I a broke high
schooler with a passion for smoothies
they’re not a paid position in favor of
an unpaid one well it was because a job
with the stem Alliance spoke to an even
greater passion of mine a passion for
supporting girls and technology you see
back in the 5th grade I had attended one
of those summer app developing camps and
had learned how to make my own
applications for smartphones it was
especially cool because since there was
only girls I felt safe and supported and
coding in fact I had such a positive
experience that have continued to set in
computer programming after the camp
despite being the only girl in many of
my later computer science classrooms it
was that initial experience where I felt
safe and excited
about coding that has allowed me to
persevere
so I worked at the stem alliance and I
had a terrific time that summer helping
for other young girls have the same
experiences that I did it was definitely
a valuable experience much more than
money couldn’t have given me
so when I think about my life after
these summer camps I’m reminded of a
video game there is this weird game I
used to play called Katamari Damacy in
the game you play as a space alien who
is given the task of creating new
planets and stars to do this you have a
sphere called a katamari which you roll
along the earth but camp objects to make
it larger it’s kind of like how you roll
up with snowballs on the ground to make
it grow bigger you start off by picking
up small things like paper clips but
eventually you can pick up larger things
like cats people trees and even
buildings and if you’re really good
you’re Katamari gets turned into a new
planet or a new star my life after that
summer has been like playing Katamari
I’ve been able to keep rolling and
picking things up today I would like to
talk to you about how I’ve begun to roll
up the world one thing at a time and how
you can start to as well because while
the summer app camps were the first
thing I picked up they certainly weren’t
the last most of the time one thing led
right into the next
because I had worked at the summer app
developing camps over the summer the
Kansas City Cemil I ins offered me the
opportunity to meet Malala the Nobel
Peace Prize winner from Pakistan Malala
was speaking at the Kauffman Center and
I was invited to join a smaller Q&A
event with other young girls Malala won
her Nobel Peace price because she stood
up for girls rights to be educated after
speaking with her I knew that I could do
more for girls in my own community and
because I had met Malala the sponsors of
her visit asked me to speak to them
about what the experience was like so I
attended the sponsors event and I not
only talked about how amazing it was to
meet Malala but also about my own
passion for girls and technology
because I had spoken about my passion I
got to talk to many of the sponsors
about it including Joey wheeler who is a
CEO of Girl Scouts in this region and
Julie Wilson who is the chief people
officer over at Center Corporation
these women really inspired me to
continue to my word and to support girls
in my community I had recently write
about a club here in Kansas City called
girls who code and I thought that maybe
if I joined it I could learn more about
how to create a year-round girls coding
program however when I attempted to join
the club they told me that it was full
that’s when a light bulb went off if I
could have joined the existing clubs
maybe I could start some new ones so I
talked to people at both the Kansas City
stem Alliance and at my high school
about starting new girls who code clubs
and they both agreed this was probably
the largest thing I had rolled up thus
far because it allowed me to make an
impact on girls year-round and help them
to have a positive view of technology
at the same time I joined the Women’s
Foundation girls Leadership Program this
program gave me the opportunity to
volunteer at TEDx women KC a livestream
event here in Kansas City I worked at
the t-shirt table and asked one of the
coordinators how I could get involved in
future 10 events she told me about
today’s event TEDx youth KC
so my Katamari is growing and so is my
calendar because at this point after
school I’m either going to a TEDx youth
meeting a girl su code meeting a girl’s
leadership meeting a school related
activity meeting and on top of it all I
had homework I’m keeping busy but I’m
happy
the Women’s Foundation also offered me
my next big opportunity big into 1,500
people at their annual luncheon because
of everything I had done and stemmed
thus far and because of all the
leadership experience I had shown here
in Kansas City they asked me if I’d be
willing to speak about what I had
learned from their program at their
luncheon one cool thing is that the girl
who spoke alongside of me Sophia was
Miss Teen Missouri at the time and she
just became Miss Teen USA a second cool
thing is that I got to speak alongside
of Madeleine Albright who was the first
female Secretary of State and Ann
Compton who is an AV student ABC News
White House correspondent I got to speak
with both of these women and they both
encouraged my passion and stem so now
we’re into 2017 and because of some of
the people I had met earlier I’m able to
keep rolling things up
remember those initial app camps that I
had worked at well one of the girls I
had worked with Erin Smith is one of the
amazing speakers today Gianna she asked
me about doing helping her to start a
new program here in Kansas City called
KC stem and it’s with the help of
sponsors from nCWIT we were able to
start a program to help high school and
middle school girls learn not only about
technology but about entrepreneurship
and global issues
also remember how I met Julie Wilson
from Cerner earlier well with her help I
was able to leave school two hours early
every day to go work an internship over
at Cerner I worked in cyber security and
I had multiple amazing experiences
at this point because of everything I
had done I’d begun to earn some
recognition my girls who code clubs got
featured in both simply KC Magazine and
in the Kansas City Star I was an MC wit
national runner-up and state winner of
their aspirations and computing award
and it was at this award ceremony that I
met Taylor Milligan who has become one
of my favorite mentors I got to meet
John Cook the CEO of VML and that
invitation was given to me by another
one of today’s speakers Robert manna
gold I continued to work the internship
over at Cerner and I probably made up
financially for that unpaid summer the
year before
and most recently my Katamari has darted
rolling on a global scale
I was one of the applicants who applied
to attend Weiss ice team camp in
Blantyre Malawi there are 1,100 girls
who applied and they chose 80 from 7
different countries in Africa and 20
from the United States because of
everything I had done in Kansas City so
far I was one of the lucky 20 chosen to
go spend two weeks in Africa learning
from such amazing organizations as NASA
Google Intel the American Society of
microbiology the UN’s Girl up campaign
among many others I had enough amazing
experience there that I could probably
fill up a wholly separate TED talk with
them I got the time I got here just in
time to start school this fall and I
haven’t even got to to mention
everything I’ve been doing but suffice
to say I’ve been keeping busy and
following my passions but that’s how
I’ve been rolling up the world how can
you I hope you can take many lessons
away from my story but there are five
main things I hope you can take away
from today the first is to be passionate
about something the sphere in my Chi
tomorrow game the thing that got this
all rolling was my passion for girls in
tech without that passion I probably
wouldn’t have gone anywhere I know that
if you had asked me two years ago to say
where my passions were I wouldn’t have
had a clue I told you that I had a
passion for smoothies but that wasn’t
really where my passion lied
look you’re out what you like whether
it’s coding photography soccer smoothies
even and then figure out what you like
about these things you like the thrill
of victory capturing important moments
teaching people important skills sipping
a cold fruity beverage as you hang out
with your friends figure out what you
like or don’t like about what you’re
currently doing and then use your
talents to help provide people with a
better experience suddenly you have a
passion
the next thing I hope you can take away
from today is to help others it’s hard
to sometimes realize this especially as
a young person but you know something
that nobody else does you have something
no matter what your age is that you can
help to teach others be a leader create
opportunities for others find as many
ways as you can to support people the
next point that I would like you to take
away is to look beyond the usual jobs
and school related activities you may
see that I didn’t mention my high school
a lot and that wasn’t because I wasn’t
doing cool things with them I was going
to robotics and forensics competitions
and taking multiple college courses
however most of the cool stuff that I
did was outside of school
look into your community for
opportunities this doesn’t mean to not
take opportunities where they are given
to you including in school and job and
jobs but try to find out opportunities
that are outside of your comfort zone
and that leads me directly into my next
point don’t wait for opportunities to
find you and if they don’t do find you
don’t say no because they’re unfamiliar
like I said look outside of your usual
places I mentioned that I’m a part of
the women’s foundation girls Leadership
Program the what the TEDx youth KC team
and I’m also a member of Cerner’s Junior
firsthand ambassadors board activities
that are clearly not related to stem
however I bring my stem knowledge to
help these organizations take every
opportunity you are given including
volunteer opportunities and don’t be
afraid to incorporate your passions into
everything you do and the last thing
that I hope you can take away from what
I’ve said today is to find a mentor to
help you because like in the game you
might be picking up things that may seem
too big for you to handle on your own
make it a point to keep talking to these
mentors as you go
nothing that I have shown you today was
just because I did something sure I may
have said something or helped to lead
something but it was the metrics in my
life who have made all of this possible
for me whether it’s someone who’s
willing to read your emails like my dad
sometimes says for me someone who’s
willing to help you find the next
opportunity
like Martha McCabe did when she helped
me to get the opportunity to meet Malala
or just people who will listen to your
problems like my favorite teachers mrs.
Reynolds mr. Creech Mrs glad back mrs.
Schultz do for me and like how my
favorite mentor Taylor Milligan does and
yes I do need that many people to keep
me sane sometimes find people who can
help you you can’t handle it all on your
own
I sometimes wonder about an alternate
timeline where I take the job making
smoothies maybe it would have led to
difference but equally cool things or
maybe not
I’m happy to be in the timeline that I’m
currently in I have continued I have a
passion for girls and stem they have
continued to push forward and have let
it take me wherever I go I’m happy to
see where I roll my Katamari next and I
hope you two can begin to roll up the
world one thing at a time thank you
[Applause]
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