(Left to right: Michelle Dickinson, Penelope, Ruth James)
One of the biggest highlights for me is my relationship with a student called Penny. I met Penny about seven years ago, when she was seven. I was doing some volunteering with OMG Tech, who used to do a lot of STEM workshops - designed to be really easy, to show kids that technology is for everybody. We were in South Auckland, on a Saturday outside a library - I was on the robotics table. Later that morning, Penelope came and did the robot activity, and after about 20 minutes said to me, “usually I’m a shy girl and I don’t do stuff like this, but I’m really really enjoying this'', which was music to my ears. I caught up with Penelope and her mum Liz three months later, and for about a year we caught up every weekend at the workplace, because I wanted to show her what an office environment was like, and we started going through coding material, and we got to a point where I couldn’t teach her anymore. Now Penelope is 12, and she’s an awesome tech girl. She’s Pasifika - I think we’re all aware that there’s hardly any Pasifika women in the tech space, and I just love the fact that she’s still really curious about tech. I don’t see her as much anymore - we catch up about once a year, but this is the sort of long story that really is a highlight for me. Knowing Penelope from the age of seven, it was really exciting seeing her stepping into this space. Stuff like this is what keeps me going.
