GYA Blog #thislittlegirlisme

On the United Nations Day of #womenandgirlsinscience this Friday, we will celebrate #WomenInSTEM by sharing stories from our #WomenInScience WG. Throughout Feb., #ThisLittleGirlIsMe #GYAblog posts will appear regularly until #InternationalWomensDay on 8 March.
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Explore, have fun, and learn!
Explore, have fun, and learn!
I was born 35 years ago in a rural community of just a few dozen inhabitants in Michoacán, Mexico. I was fortunate that my parents encouraged me to be curious, and read books, many books! When I was a child,...
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Never stop building a better world
Never stop building a better world
It is nice to be a woman and a scientist, but it is really hard. I am a mother of two beautiful kids, a girl, and a boy. That little girl in the picture is me (at 4 years old)...
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The Light at the end of the tunnel
The Light at the end of the tunnel
Imagine a little girl of five, in a verandah full of stuffed toys, scribbling on the wall and talking to herself. That would be my daughter, five years ago. When I caught her at this game the first time, I...
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“It is never too late to set a new goal or to dream a new dream”
"It is never too late to set a new goal or to dream a new dream"
I was very lucky to be born in a place where I had great role models. When I was growing up, my mom was a biologist and a professor at university, while my dad was a university student so our...
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“As a girl, I chose the path of science to fight discrimination because it gave me awareness and freedom.”
"As a girl, I chose the path of science to fight discrimination because it gave me awareness and freedom."
On the day after the International Day of Girls and Women in Science 2022, I celebrated my 40th birthday. It is hard to believe that the girl who was 4 years old in the photo is now 10 times older....
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“Don’t conform to preconceptions!”
"Don't conform to preconceptions!"
Although I wasn’t necessarily sure at first I would become a scientist, I kind of always knew that through knowledge acquisition I could empower my voice and could help other girls and women do the same. I am from central...
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“I hope that I can pave the way for my daughters towards a better world that empowers them and discovers their potential, just as much as my parents did to #ThisLittleGirl”
"I hope that I can pave the way for my daughters towards a better world that empowers them and discovers their potential, just as much as my parents did to #ThisLittleGirl"
I developed my passion for teaching through my love to write with chalk on the blackboard in grade 1. At that time, I liked the idea of writing that can be easily wiped away. I asked my parents, who were...
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“My advice to you? Be passionate about what you do! Remember, even Nobel Prize winners had their papers rejected.”
"My advice to you? Be passionate about what you do! Remember, even Nobel Prize winners had their papers rejected."
#ThisLittleGirlIsMe in this photo taken many years ago. Today I am a scientist and this is my tale. I grew up in South Africa in an extremely loving and supportive family who provided me with every possible opportunity to learn...
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“I loved books from before I could understand what the words meant.”
“I loved books from before I could understand what the words meant.”
#ThisLittleGirlIsMe, and she is still a big part of who I am today. From early in my life it was clear that I was headed for a life of learning. I loved books from before I could understand what the...
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“My maternal grandmother always encouraged me to follow my dreams and to be independent”
"My maternal grandmother always encouraged me to follow my dreams and to be independent"
I grew up in a neighborhood in the south of Buenos Aires City, Argentina. Spending my infancy among my three football fan brothers, I was “expected” to be the goalkeeper only in case they needed me. I soon realized that...
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“Never look at how much we are lacking but how much we can contribute and make a difference – this is what matters most.”
“Never look at how much we are lacking but how much we can contribute and make a difference – this is what matters most.”
After transferring to a new school because of my father’s work, my academic standing was not comparable to my previous school. But it was OK – I didn’t think much at that time, besides just going with the flow, enjoying...
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“This little girl has never been told that girls can’t do science”
“This little girl has never been told that girls can’t do science”
This little girl has never been told that girls can’t do science. On the contrary, she was encouraged to the maximum by her family and always felt that studying science is something special and very interesting. She always believed that...
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“My mother is a biologist and I grew up helping her measure and write down data in tables for her experiments, and listening to her explain fascinating phenomena”
“My mother is a biologist and I grew up helping her measure and write down data in tables for her experiments, and listening to her explain fascinating phenomena”
My mother is a biologist and I grew up helping her measure and write down data in tables for her experiments, and listening to her explain fascinating phenomena to little children visiting the marine science museum. My mother is also...
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“Follow your passion – know that you can achieve anything!”
“Follow your passion – know that you can achieve anything!”
This little girl became intrigued by the brain and curious about unraveling the neural mechanism underlying mental health conditions in 6th grade when her best friend suffered from anorexia. She pursued her passion, became a first-generation university student, worked hard,...
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“My parents told me I could be anything I wanted”
“My parents told me I could be anything I wanted”
As a girl, growing up, I loved reading books and was an introvert. I had a beautiful loving family where my parents told me I could be anything I wanted and allowed me and my sisters all the flexibility we...
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“Speaking out and having our own thoughts were deemed disrespectful. Doing one’s best was never good enough, in school and at work alike”
“Speaking out and having our own thoughts were deemed disrespectful. Doing one’s best was never good enough, in school and at work alike”
The COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown has been challenging, but being confined at home for such a long time allowed me to reflect on my journey as a woman in science, a mother with young kids, in a traditionally steadfast society....
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“Curiosity led me to be passionate about exploring the unknown by testing hypotheses and doing experiments.”
“Curiosity led me to be passionate about exploring the unknown by testing hypotheses and doing experiments.”
I am still this smiling but stubborn little girl at 4 years of age.  I am the youngest of a large (and loud) family and grew up in a small city with 20,000 inhabitants in South America (Brazil). My mother...
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“I was raised with the conviction that I could achieve anything I aimed for, regardless of my gender.”
“I was raised with the conviction that I could achieve anything I aimed for, regardless of my gender.”
As a molecular biologist, I have a deep interest in understanding how life works at the cellular and molecular levels. I have worked in research projects in the fields of microbiome, cancer, synthetic biology and recoding. I am also interested...
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“I would advise this little girl to never say never.”
"I would advise this little girl to never say never."
If someone had told me 20 years ago that one day I will be where I am now, I would have laughed. In fact, most of the things I do or am today, I have denied one way or another...
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“My dear girls, dream big and persevere to achieve your goals, you can do it!”
"My dear girls, dream big and persevere to achieve your goals, you can do it!"
I was born in Tunis, Tunisia. Since my early childhood, I have been fascinated by biology. I fed my curiosity through documentary films, science magazines and science-fiction films. My parents encouraged me by buying me encyclopedias, scientific novels and taking...
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“As a little girl I was always told by my family that I was special and there was nothing that girls could not achieve.”
"As a little girl I was always told by my family that I was special and there was nothing that girls could not achieve."
As a little girl, I was always told by my family that I was special and there was nothing that girls could not achieve. I have a lot of good memories of my childhood and growing-up days. I was the...
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“I was always taught that girls and boys are equals, and that all of us should be able to follow our dreams.”
"I was always taught that girls and boys are equals, and that all of us should be able to follow our dreams."
From a very young age, this little girl was interested in exploring everything around her, and loved animals and nature. This curiosity continued as a girl and a woman, and being so curious, what was more logical than to love...
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“Empowerment… transformed me from a tiny village girl to someone who can nurture the next generation…”
“Empowerment… transformed me from a tiny village girl to someone who can nurture the next generation…”
This is a story of a 3-years-old young village girl who had never imagined herself as a scientist or even as part of an international platform. She comes from a low-income family and had a limited perspective on daily life....
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“You are very strong like all the little girls in the world, you are beautiful inside and out.”
“You are very strong like all the little girls in the world, you are beautiful inside and out.”
The little girl in this photo is 6 years old and started her school life on the day the photo was taken. She went on to become one of the youngest women professors in Turkey at the age of 36....