Women in STEM (WiSTEM) hosted a college survival kit-making event on Sept. 16 in Jubilee Hall.
The event provided an opportunity for students to meet the executive board (e-board) and assemble a semester starter pack. Items up for grabs included hand lotions, stickers, pens, pencils, scrunchies, face masks, notebooks and Jolly Rancher candy.
The WiSTEM e-board includes President Elizabeth Sudol-Sciacca, Vice President Lauren Cinquino, Head of Community Outreach Caroline Kang, Public Relations Chair KK Madu, Secretary Noelle Varghese and Treasurer Deirdre Elliott.
“[The university] has a lot of good resources, but we just wanted to give them an extra hand for those who may feel discouraged by the very professional nature of those events,” Sudol-Sciacca, a senior biology major on the pre-med track, said. “It’s why we wanted to break the ice, so people could come to our future events and hopefully feel inspired and a little less daunting by the task.”
WiSTEM is a social and academic club that focuses on supporting female pre-health students. It is open to all majors and graduate students.
“As bio majors and as anyone in the STEM field, we are always looking for that next thing [to achieve] when we need to be proud of what we are doing right in this moment,” Sudol-Sciacca said. “I try to encourage that.”
Outside of running the club, the WiSTEM e-board members are involved in organizations like the Academic Resource Center (ARC), work as EMTs for South Orange and take part in research studies. Sudol-Sciacca said she appreciated how motivated individuals in the club were when she first joined.
“A lot of them are very professionally driven,” Sudol-Sciacca said. “They were talking to us about medical school, and I was like, ‘Wait, that’s really cool.’”
Sudol-Sciacca said part of the inspiration behind making survival kits was its practicality for STEM students.
“Give them a few school supplies,” Sudol-Sciacca said. “Also, a fun little self-care thing because if you’re in class and you feel like you need some hand cream, you need to put your hair back, or even some fun stickers for your computer to give you that extra motivation.”
For Grace Gaffrey, a freshman computer science major, this was her first WiSTEM experience after meeting the club during the Involvement Fair.
“It’s nice talking with them,” Gaffrey said. “A lot of them are [biology related majors, but] I am computer science. It's kind of different, with the majors. Knowing that you’re all in STEM is very helpful.”
Awa Moengue, a sophomore biology major, has been coming to WiSTEM events since her freshman year.
“The first time I came here, they had a whole discussion based [event],” Moengue said. “I learned about [being an] EMT through Lauren, and how the e-board members got involved with research.”
WiSTEM plans to host a medical school panel, a Stop the Bleed training and CPR training for future events. They are also working to be registered nationally with the Women in STEM organization.
“It’s about one of those moments of putting your best foot forward, and you can do it,” Sudol-Sciacca said. “Please come talk to us, come meet us. These professional events are meant to inspire people.”
Calla Patino is the head editor of The Setonian’s Opinion section. She can be reached at calla.patino@student.shu.edu.
