As I look out my window onto the fertile fields that make up my farm in Southwest Wisconsin, I think about how life works out and how far I have come. I remember growing up in a much different environment, a very urban area where no one spoke English, and everything seemed so chaotic and haphazard. Getting an education wasn’t an option for everyone and leaving seemed unthinkable.
I guess I was one of the lucky ones, my mother and grandmother were immigrants that lacked any formal education and they worked hard saving money so that I could have what they didn’t – a high school diploma. After graduation, they encouraged me to go to college, and in my freshman year, a chance encounter with a professor exposed me to the possibilities afforded by an engineering degree. I remember the day when, as a new student on campus, while looking for a classroom, some guy comes up to me and tells me I must be lost because “girls couldn’t become engineers.” He tried to make me feel unwelcome. I remember thinking, well if my being here upsets you, I guess I’ll just stick around a bit longer! That adversity became my motivation, and five-and-a-half years later, I finally graduated with my mechanical engineering degree.
After 10 years working as an engineer, which included time in Denver and eventually a move to a farm in Wisconsin, I eventually found that I had other passions. I left engineering and embarked on a career in academia. I loved teaching and interacting with young people on campus.
It was during this time that a routine doctor visit led to a cancer diagnosis. After the shock wore off, I quickly discovered that this experience would make me painfully aware of the value different perspectives can bring to engineering. From the first biopsy, through the surgery and then ending with radiation treatments and subsequent follow ups, it became clear that the tools used to cure me were designed by people who most likely would never have to experience their machines. I remember thinking to myself, “no woman would ever design a contraption like this!” While I appreciated that the female radiology technicians displayed tremendous compassion, they were limited by the application of the equipment used to find and treat tumors and other abnormalities.
After this experience, I became involved with the Women in STEM programs at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that the programs had more female engineering students than I could count on both hands! There were young ladies from many different places with diverse backgrounds. As I spent more time with women from different sectors of the engineering world, I heard about incredible concepts and project ideas that helped not only grow the program at the college, but that provided business development ideas that took design and customer service to new levels. I became even more aware of the value of diversity in product design and service strategies. I saw how women helped reinvent product designs that served a multitude of new users and expanded opportunities for those previously ignored.
I felt the personal benefit when I had to undergo more cancer testing and found that more recent equipment had a much higher level of patient comfort than those of 20 years ago. I can only assume that some female designer saw their mom or aunt live through the treatments and must have thought the same thing I did: “No woman would ever design a contraption like this! So it’s up to me to make it better for the next generation of cancer patients.”
At this point, you might be wondering why all this matters. After all, it’s great that more women and non-traditional students are getting into the STEM fields, but what does this have to do with me? Here is what I’m asking of any parent, family member, or friend of anyone who takes the time to share their dreams with you: please don’t discourage them. I know it is easy to outline all the reasons why it won’t work out, or how hard it is, but it takes effort to be a positive force. Even if you think that you are helping shield them from heart ache and rejection, don’t tell them they can’t. You could be the one that makes a difference and helps them go on to do incredible things. The world has enough challenges and difficulty, dare to be different.
There are a lot of people who were told they couldn’t contribute or they don’t belong. They may be different; perhaps an injury that challenges them physically may enlighten them mentally. The value lies in the differences we bring, not in fitting in and looking like everyone else. We all have something to contribute. So, when someone tells you about their dreams, whether it is a child or an empty nester entering a new chapter of their life, don’t tell them all the reasons why they can’t do it, encourage them to try. Who knows they just might make a difference in a life that is important to you.
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Maria Lauck is a Grants Practice Manager at Power System Engineering in Automation and Communication group. As a mechanical engineer with two decades of utility experience and a passion for working in the industry, she helps clients fund essential projects needed to serve their residential and business customers. She and her husband live on a farm in rural Lancaster, Wisconsin.