Cynthia Ho – I Know More
Preferred Name
Cynthia Ho
Legal Name
Cynthia Ho
Contact Email
cynthiaho2005@gmail.com
Age
16
Gender Expression
Female
Which student are you?
High School Student (US Only)
Name of School
Palos Verdes High School
Grade / Year in School
11
Location (City, State/Province, Country)
Rancho Palos Verdes, CA, USA
If you identify with an ethnicity or culture(s), which one or ones do you identify with?
chinese
What is the name of your legal guardian/parent (if under 18)?
Grace Luo
Please provide contact information for your legal guardian/parent (if under 18)
xiaofang@gmail.com
What are your social media accounts (TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook)?
https://www.instagram.com/huniyuzu/
Please select type of project you are entering
Literature/Poetry
What is the title of your project?
I Know More
Please tell us about your submission (maximum 600 words)
The poem was inspired by my classmate’s first day on the robotics team I was part of. It was that day when I wrote the first draft of this poem. Personal observations and memories of sexism when working in the STEM field from 4 years of doing robotics flooded my head. However, I knew if I brought the evidence up, many people would carelessly disregard it as being situational, or even my fault. They would say I have not received recognition for my work because I do not talk about it enough. But the honest reason, which is difficult for them to admit, is because I am not listened to. The team chooses to ignore me and my accomplishments. As a result, I started to raise my voice in hopes of spreading my knowledge and earning respect. However, the odds are against women in STEM, and I am just another emotional, nonsensical girl.
What is something you learned about patriarchy and what is something you would like to change about what you learned?
The overwhelming majority of people that hold careers in the STEM field are men. Women make up only 29% of the STEM labor force, 19% of STEM companies' board members, and 3% of STEM industry CEOs. Society’s perpetuated stereotype that women are bad at math and science, along with engineering being seen as a “male” job, causes women to be underrepresented and discriminated against in the STEM field. I strive to help change the demographic of STEM to include women too. There is a lot of pressure to perform well in my physics, calculus, and robotics classes to not be a supporting example of sexist misconceptions. People may view that if a man earns a bad grade on a math test, the subject is just not for him as an individual; but if a woman does the same, she represents that women as a collective group are not intelligent enough to do maths. I am working hard to earn an education and career to be one of many women in STEM to not only pursue what I enjoy doing but also inspire a future generation of girls in STEM.