Take chances. Stay
open-minded. Never limit yourself.
These are just a few of the great pieces of advice that
Grade 9 students received from three female guest speakers from Draper
Laboratory in Cambridge. The speakers
came to talk to the ninth grade students during their Monday Guidance period on
January 23 and 30.
 |
| Ensign Emily Frost |
Ensign Emily Frost is a graduate of the Naval Academy and a
current graduate student at MIT. She
conducts research for her master’s degree at Draper, and came to speak to
the girls on the 23rd. On the
30th, Melinda Brown, General Counsel, and Beth Mora, VP of Finance
and Administration, spoke with the students.
Ensign Frost will be a captain on a Navy ship in Hawaii after
she completes her degree at MIT and research at Draper. Her research involves autonomous planning for
unmanned underwater vehicles.
Brown, a graduate of Wellesley College, spoke very highly of
all-female education and advised the girls to, “Think in terms of leaving your
comfort zone, and explore and try new things.”
Mora also benefitted from all-female education: she received
her MBA from Simmons College. All three
women urged the students to fully explore their interests, especially in the
sciences.
 |
| Melinda Brown, General Counsel (L), and Beth Mora, VP of Finance and Administration (R) |
The girls eagerly plied the guests with questions, from
asking if they had taken AP classes in high school, to how old they were when
they decided on a profession, to what it is like to be a woman in a traditionally
male-dominated field.
"It is one of the goals of the
Guidance Department to expose our students to various careers,” said Director
of Guidance Mary Ferrucci. “The Grade 9
students benefited from hearing our speakers talk about their high school
experience, as well their colleges and career paths. And, while still a few years away, I believe
it expanded our students’ thoughts about their own college and career
process."
Special thanks to Dr. Michael Ricard P ’15
for his help organizing these wonderful speakers!
