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<<14>> I love science.
<<15>> I can't imagine doing any other career.
<<17>> I'm very lucky that I found a subject that I love.
<<20>> I love having kind of mysteries, questions that we don't know.
<<24>> It's so much fun to just be curious and then get to answer questions
<<29>> through the work that we do.
<<30>> How I first got into STEM was when I was in school and I had
<<34>> a brilliant teacher who just showed me how much fun chemistry actually is.
<<38>> So it was a natural progression for me to carry on and go to university
<<42>> and study chemistry.
<<43>> So what excites me about science?
<<45>> I mean, everything.
<<46>> It's how the world is formed, it's how we understand things that are going on.
<<50>> I love science and how we make the product, all the chemistry behind it.
<<55>> I'm very lucky to have worked with some amazing women and really strong
<<60>> female role models, and also male,
<<63>> but female role models have been great
<<65>> and have really encouraged me along my career.
<<67>> There have been times when I have felt that it was inaccessible to me
<<71>> to be in a STEM field.
<<72>> I remember it being in college and
<<76>> sometimes in some of my classes.
<<78>> I would have been one of only
<<80>> maybe two or three women in a whole class full of people
<<84>> and that was intimidating.
<<86>> I would walk into a room and I'd be expecting them
<<89>> to start a meeting, and they're still waiting for
<<91>> Dr. Dempsey to arrive
<<93>> because they don't think that I am Dr. Dempsey
<<95>> I know that in IT or maintenance it's more like a male domain,
<<100>> but you can see more and more girls going into that.
<<103>> What would 12 year old me think about what I'm doing now?
<<107>> I've always been very determined and a bit of a risk taker,
<<110>> and I think that 12 year old me would be really happy that
<<112>> I haven't ever let the fear of the unknown or
<<116>> men versus women ever stop me from going for something that I want.
<<119>> There are so many different opportunities within STEM, not just science,
<<123>> for women nowadays.
<<124>> You can go anywhere.
<<125>> You can be anything that you want to be.
<<127>> Get out there, be curious,
<<130>> and don't be afraid to have a career in STEM.
<<132>> It is wonderful.
<<134>> If you really do have a passion about science, then do it, go for it.
<<139>> But don't be put off by what you might perceive
<<142>> people might expect from you as a woman.
<<145>> I've always just followed the path that passion led me along
<<149>> and it happened to be this one
<<151>> and I've loved it all the way through.