"This is what I want to do with my life."
That’s what Hila Loeser realized after CIJE’s Innovators Trip to Boston for Young Women.
Before the trip, Hila questioned if STEM was truly her path. “Do I actually want to do it? I’ve just been doing it for the past 12 years of my life. That’s just been my default,” she confessed.
The trip changed everything.
“We saw this and we’re like, this is what we want. This is so cool. This is what I want to do,” Hila shared.
Now, she’s signed up for two STEM classes next year and is applying to engineering schools with renewed confidence.
Twenty-three young women from nine different Jewish high schools visited the Broad Institute (the world’s #1 biotechnology center), Form Labs (pioneers in 3D printing), RAI (a cutting-edge robotics company), and the MIT Media Lab.
The strong STEM education gained in their CIJE engineering course significantly enhanced the trip’s impact. “I know how to use an Arduino, and they’re using one for a robot that can jump and run across stairs. I felt like one step above just someone looking around – I know these things and I know these terms.”
The intimate size of our Boston trip created deep connections across state lines. “There were girls from Dallas and girls from Florida and the tri-state area. We all like STEM, we all wanted to be there.”
What surprised many students was seeing the collaborative nature of cutting-edge STEM work. “At Broad, Harvard, and the MIT Media Lab, they value collaboration. It’s all open, and they have different team members working near each other… Collaboration is key. You can’t just work in a lab by yourself.”
The trip also reinforced that religious identity and STEM careers can coexist. Upon meeting an Orthodox woman who is a scientist at the Broad Institute, Hila learned, “She chose to work with bacteria because it can be frozen over Shabbat and Chagim… And she covers her hair. It was really cool to see a visibly identifiable Jew working in a lab.”
The experience helped students discover their unique interests. “I fell in love with the biotechnology part,” Hila said, “but we did biotechnology, robotics, 3D printing, software engineering, and marine biology. I was talking to a girl who was like, ‘that marine biology thing was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen! I want to do that in my life.’ So it’s really interesting that everyone found their path.”
With your partnership, CIJE can continue to bring immersive experiences, alongside ongoing programs in schools, to help every student find their path.