STEMing UP Program is known for training young women for a post secondary education and a career in technology. However, one other focus, and an equally important one, is to create opportunities for the young women participants to start a portfolio of work. For some of these young women this is their very first opportunity to do so.
The portfolio of work can be anything that the girls have worked on in the program based on the challenges brought on by a real business that we work with in order to create these real life work experience opportunities for our program participants. It can be anything from an app to a website.
The key ingredients in making this experience a success are the mentors who are giving their time and expertise to train the young women every step of the way. The mentors have met with these young women at least once per week to help them develop a website for a woman led business that we identified as a business challenge in the 2019 STEMing UP Program.
Since we are getting closer to the end of the STEMing UP Program this year, we want to take this opportunity to highlight the experiences that the participants from 2019 program have had during this project creation as well as their biggest support, their mentors.
Yathusha Ramanarajah
Why did you decide to continue with this project?
I decided to continue with the project because it was a hands-on opportunity for me to practice what I learned throughout the program. By continuing the project, it provided me with new learning experiences week after week.
What were your expectations when you started this project?
My expectations were to develop the website so that the customers would have easier ways to navigate around the website and make sure that it was visually appealing to provide the best experience. I also expected to work on my coding skills and build on what I learned so far.
Now that you are at the end of the project, were the expectations met or exceeded?
At the end of this project, my expectations were exceeded. I learned many coding skills. From before and after, the website has had an amazing transformation. Many great features were added and it is more functional and organized.
What are some of the things you learned from completing this project?
Some of the things I learned from this project is that when building a website it takes a lot of teamwork. There are so many different areas you have to look at. While designing you have to decide if the picture on the website looks better in portrait or landscape and even choosing the right colour, text, and size matters.
What was your favourite part of the project?
My favourite part of the project was when we were giving our different ideas and working as a team. I also loved the learning opportunities throughout the project. Whenever we faced a problem or something in the coding wasn’t right, the time that we got to use problem-solving skills was very valuable.
What are some thoughts that you want to share with the readers?
Because of the STEMing UP program, I got to work on this amazing project with other students as well. After working on this project, my knowledge of coding has grown. Many girls with interests in STEM should take part in the many opportunities so they can learn new things.
Do you recommend we continue to provide this type of learning in the future for future STEMing UP students?
Yes, I think that students would greatly benefit from this learning because they will learn many new things and also learn to work in a team.
Arianne Ghislaine Rull
Why did you decide to continue with this project?
I decided to continue working on this project to explore more about web formation, marketing, and design. Aside from that, I felt inspired and compelled by Kym’s story. I believe that she is such a strong mother and a good role model for women as well. Despite the hurdles in her life, she continues to pursue her business.
What were your expectations when you started this project?
Before starting this project, I thought that it would just take a short period of time. I definitely underestimated the time it took to complete and polish a website. But, here we are almost a year away from the project 🙂
Now that you are at the end of the project, were the expectations met or exceeded?
Personally, I had a great time working with these talented individuals like Marki, Ashley, Yathusha, Shirley, Mashal and Yusra. Time indeed passed by quickly and each session didn’t feel like work. It felt like we were just having fun while working on a project.
What are some of the things you learned from completing this project?
After completing this project, I gained insight into web formation technologies such as Jquery and Shopify Partners. In addition, I’ve also learned more about the process of creating an e-commerce website.
What are some thoughts that you want to share with the readers?
Keep on learning and don’t be afraid to take challenges!
Do you recommend we continue to provide this type of learning in the future for future STEMing UP students?
Definitely! Web formation is a great opportunity for students to obtain relevant skills in web design and development.
Mashal Nihal
Why did you decide to continue with this project?
At first, I wasn’t even one of the original working members of the project. It was when Arianne posted about it in the slack inviting other members to join that I reached out and got involved. I love learning, it’s something I love doing to constantly better myself and my skills, so when I found out about this, I was pleasantly surprised that the learning that started with the STEMing Up program didn’t finish at the end of summer, but continued for the rest of the year. I wanted to continue to find ways to better myself and learn from others, so I decided to join the project.
What were your expectations when you started this project?
When I joined this project, I was a bit nervous because I started working on it later than the others had, so I was worried I wouldn’t be on the same level as the other team members were. However, when I joined my first meeting, I realized all the people working on it weren’t just smart, but also kind and they were able to catch me up on speed quickly. I wasn’t expected to know what every line of code meant straight off the bat which was a great relief to me.
Now that you are at the end of the project, were the expectations met or exceeded?
My expectations were greatly exceeded. Marki has been such a great mentor throughout this project, and I’ve learned so much from her and the other team members. Seeing how a website is actually built and the effort that needs to go into it was something very eye-opening to me and an experience I’ve never had anywhere else.
What are some of the things you learned from completing this project?
A big thing I learned from completing this project is that building a website isn’t just about knowing how to code. It also requires a knowledge of content strategy and design. I didn’t realize how big of a role those play in web development, so learning that was something important for me.
What was your favourite part of the project?
One of the highlights of working on this project was the opportunity to present our progress. After working on it for a few months, showing others what we had achieved until that point was great. Being able to stand on the stage with a team and say, “We’ve done this, let us walk you through it,” was no doubt nerve-racking, but also a moment I deeply cherish, it’s given me a lot of confidence.
What are some thoughts that you want to share with the readers?
I think a lot of teenage girls don’t think they have enough knowledge to dive into a web development project, but it’s important to remember that you’re not expected to be a complete expert that knows every detail of every coding language. This is a learning opportunity where you get to apply the skills you learn as you go along.
Do you recommend we continue to provide this type of learning in the future for future STEMing UP students?
Yes! Definitely, it’s a great way to apply the skills learnt in the program to keep moving forward.
Shirley Wu
Why did you decide to continue with this project?
After the STEMing UP program, I wanted to continue my learning in the STEM field. Also, I have always wanted to put together my creativity and passion for computer science into making something meaningful. So when I saw this opportunity to continue with developing a real e-commerce website, I immediately decided that I want to be a part of the team!
What were your expectations when you started this project?
I joined the project to gain experience with web development and to practice what I have learned. Having only the skill to write some simple code, I was a bit worried that everything will be too complicated.
Now that you are at the end of the project, were the expectations met or exceeded?
When we first started the project, we did not realize that it takes lots of different skills to build a website. Fortunately, we got support from professionals to take good quality photos for the products, to help us with organizing the contents and designing web pages. Marki, who guided us throughout the project, explained the code to us and showed us how she problem-solves when we run into challenges. The overall experience was very enjoyable, and I learned a lot more different concepts than I expected.
What are some of the things you learned from completing this project?
I have learned tons from this project that will be beneficial to me in the future. Such as learning front-end programming, recognizing the importance of collaboration and resourcefulness, learning how to organize and present ideas, and many more. Just from meeting and talking with professionals, I realized that there are so many small things that I can learn from them. I feel motivated to improve myself so that I can be more productive and be as successful as they are.
What was your favourite part of the project?
My favourite part of the project would be designing the website. I had lots of fun brainstorming ideas with the group and professional designer Ashley, to come up with visually appealing web pages while taking user experiences, the brand story, and the purposes into consideration. My two greatest passions are visual art and computer science, and this project included both!
What are some thoughts that you want to share with the readers?
“You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.” — Zig Ziglar.
I often lack confidence and think that I have to be good at something to do it. But now I realized that I should start doing it first, so I could learn from the process and get better at it.
Do you recommend we continue to provide this type of learning in the future for future STEMing UP students?
Yes, it would be a good next step for once they learned the basics in the program.
This project could not have been possible without the commitment and the time from the two mentor volunteers who brought in resources, people and skills to the group, not to mention passion and dedication to the team’s learning success:
Marki Sveen
Why did you decide to continue with this project?
I wanted to know what it took to build a Shopify store from start to finish. Share my development skills with the STEMing up team.
What were your expectations when you started this project?
I expected to be able to lead all the work myself. Wow, was I ever wrong! So happy to have help from Erica Lafaive for Content Strategy and Information architecture, and Ashley Edmundson lead the Design of Kym Nylz.
Now that you are at the end of the project, were the expectations met or exceeded?
Exceeded. I learnt so much! Very thankful for the team for showing up week after week, especially when we were in the middle of it and there was no end in sight.
What are some of the things you learned from completing this project?
That Shopify removes some big hurdles to getting an e-commerce store online, but there’s still so much to do. Photography, content, support, shipping, social media… the list goes on.
What was your favourite part of the project?
Working with the young women week after week.
What are some thoughts that you want to share with the readers?
These young women are so inspiring! Absolutely loved working on this project with them.
Do you recommend we continue to provide this type of learning in the future for future STEMing UP students?
Heck yes!
Ashley Edmundson
Why did you decide to continue with this project?
I actually came on to the project a bit later, I was invited by Marki to bring some design thinking to the team. I continued to come back because I was inspired by these committed young women and by Kim and her story. It was also a lot of fun and a nice creative break from my usual work.
What were your expectations when you started this project?
I expected to come in and help clean up a few design things so they could continue building the website and to share a bit about how I work, so they could take that into their work in the future.
Now that you are at the end of the project, were the expectations met or exceeded?
Exceeded for sure. I was amazed at the creativity and ability to pick up the processes and concepts I introduced, while also continuing to build the site. They are going to be a force to be reckoned with in whatever field they choose to work in in the future.
What are some of the things you learned from completing this project?
How challenging it is to build an online business
What was your favourite part of the project?
I really enjoyed doing a mood board exercise (finding imagery, colour, and patterns to act as inspiration for the design of the website). I loved so many elements of what they all came up with and ended up using something from each of their ideas in the final design.
What are some thoughts that you want to share with the readers?
This was one of the most rewarding things I’ve worked on. I think it’s incredibly important for these kinds of programs to exist. I look forward to seeing it grow!
Do you recommend we continue to provide this type of learning in the future for future STEMing UP students?
Absolutely. I wish there was something like this when I was in school, it makes what you are learning so relatable to the real world and gives such a great depth of experience you would never get in a classroom.
We are all very excited for the outcome of all of the hard work that the students and mentors have put in to help develop Kym Nylz’s website please check it out!