In 2021, St Catherine’s introduced the role of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) Captain.

The reasons behind my enthusiasm for this captaincy stemmed from both my interests in the field and my strong belief in academic role models for adolescent women. In this role, I sought to foster a sense of excitement around these more “boyish” subjects, encouraging girls to test their limits and indulge in their curiosity.

Amidst the frequent disruptions that COVID-19 brought us, I was pleased to connect with many girls across all cohorts at STEM Club – the highlight of which was our slime experiment!

In addition, the STEM assembly, although online, was undoubtedly one of my favourite moments from this year. During this assembly, numerous accomplishments of our STEM students were awarded alongside recounts of the STEM conferences our VCE students had attended. Although the online format was not live-experiment permitting, I sought to include engaging at-home experiments for girls to complete throughout the week.

Finally, one of the unexpected benefits of being STEM Captain was talking to many girls in Years 9 and 10 during the time of subject selection, providing them my advice and witnessing the impact I am grateful to have had. I hope the 2022, STEM captain will take this position to new heights and will see an even greater influx of passionate STEM students.