Shuba Prasadh

Our Steminist of the month is Shuba Prasadh a sixteen year old from New Jersey. Enjoy reading.

Hi Shuba how old are you?

16

What are your gender pronouns?

She/ Her/ Hers

What have you done to contribute to STEM and how has that inspired you?

Some things that I have done in the field of STEM are independently pursuing computer science and founding my own nonprofit STEM organization to help spread STEM education. In terms of developing my computer science skills and knowledge, I independently participate in online courses from prestigious universities with topics ranging from Python to big data to bioinformatics. I thoroughly enjoy these courses, and the innovative topics always inspire me to be creative and consider things from multiple perspectives (they've inspired me by teaching me interdisciplinary thinking). They also challenge me and therefore inspire me to grow into a smarter version of myself by the time I complete each one. With regards to my organization, STEMFuture, its core mission is to spread quality STEM education that makes the future of STEM innovative, safe, diverse, and impactful. We have impacted hundreds of learners through our workshops, events, partnerships, chapters, online curriculum, and outreach. This organization has been one of my biggest sources of inspiration, for watching my learners' faces when they get a cool STEM concept or having a young girl come up to me during a workshop and tell me that I just gave her a new idea of what she wanted to be when she grew up (a computer scientist), that is just the kind of experience that gives you energy and inspiration to keep challenging yourself and creating more positivity.

Who's your feminist role model?

Emma Watson

What makes you feel happy and loved?

What makes me happy is sunny weather, reading about cutting edge tech, reading about Elon Musk's amazing initiatives, and watching Netflix.

Whats an obstacle have you faced in the world of STEM and how did you overcome it?

I'd say I have had two major obstacles to face in my journey of pursuing STEM: being one of the only women in the room (feeling alone), and being afraid of starting. Oftentimes, when I attend STEM events or when I am in my computer science/technology classes, I find myself being one of the only women there. This feeling of being singled out, left out, and alone made me contemplate if I should even stick to pursuing STEM anymore towards the beginning of my journey. However, I figured that if I am experiencing this unfortunate situation, then many other women in tech experience it as well. So I began my search for groups of likeminded people (women in STEM, like me). It wasn't long before I found out the immense amount of support, initiatives, and communities that exist to battle and change this issue. I was so happy to become a part of the NCWIT community, a community that has never failed to inspire me to keep pursuing STEM. I essentially overcame my fear of loneliness in my field by doing some research and connecting with likeminded people. Also, towards the beginning of when I started pursuing computer science, I honestly felt pretty intimidated and afraid to just start. I felt like the concepts of compsci were too advanced and that I would perhaps not be good at the subject. However, I got over this by just starting to code. And I kept coding. And with each new line of code, that fear pretty much vanished. To overcome this obstacle, I just got over my fear and went for it.

What's you ideal day?

My ideal day consists of an inspiring tech conference, watching a few TED talks on my couch, coding, working on my organization, meeting like-minded and inspiring STEMinists, and of course, having beautiful sunny weather!

How did you get into tech?

I decided in seventh grade that I wanted to explore computers. I enrolled in my first online course and it just clicked from there - I had fallen in love with the topic. Since then I have completed several online courses and I even help others begin their STEM careers by teaching them through my organization.

What's are your past accomplishments or something that made you proud of you?

I am an NCWIT State Affiliate Winner, Presidential Volunteer Service Gold Award Recipient, and I have independently completed several online computer science courses from prestigious universities and earned over a 97% on each one. I am also the founder of two organizations - STEMFuture and GenerationZeal.