Our thinking
Dear teenage me...
This International Women’s Day, the women of Engenuiti are once again reflecting on the journeys that led us into engineering.
A few years ago, inspired by the STEMette's 'letter to my teenage self' zine, we wrote letters to our teenage selves, sharing the advice we wished we’d heard earlier. Looking back, many of us realised that a teacher, parent, or mentor played a crucial role in helping us discover STEM.
This year, inspired by the theme “Give to Gain,” the women who've joined Engenuiti since are sharing their letters. Because when experience, encouragement and insight are shared, they help open doors for others.
Qistina
Dear Teenage Me,
You probably don’t realise it yet, but those days going to sites with Dad are shaping you more than you think. Having a mum who can run through numbers faster than anyone you know is influencing you too. That early exposure is why you’ll choose a career that genuinely suits you - one that challenges you but still feels right. In the end, you’ll follow closely in Dad’s footsteps, and you’ll be quietly proud that you did. How exciting!
It won’t always feel certain. There will be nights at school & university when you’re exhausted, questioning whether you’re cut out for it - especially when you’re preparing for exams that seem impossibly hard. Even then, you won’t seriously consider walking away. Beneath the stress and doubt, you’ll know you’re on the right track.
University will bring more than just a degree. You’ll meet people who shape your life in ways you can’t predict, and that alone will make the tougher moments worth it. You’ll learn to trust your judgement and realise that something doesn’t have to feel perfect to be right. In the end, you’ll be glad you stayed the course — and glad you stayed curious.
With love,
Your future self
Shona
Dear Teenage Me,
You have been pressured from your school to decide on your whole future now, to apply for the top universities and to narrow down your options. You had a wish to see the world that led you to look for degrees with the word international in them and could only find international relations – it turns out this is actually just a variation of politics. Now, seemingly in a whirlwind beyond your control you have an interview for PPE and you have no idea what GDP means, you don’t like reading and you don’t really have any interest in philosophy…
A few years later you will realise that you knew what you wanted to do years ago when you were building houses out of Lego. Then you realise you love timber, and art and maths and problem solving… it all seems kind of obvious when you put the pieces together later on, without the noise of teenage-hood, the pressures of expectation and the confusion that comes with having an interest in everything.
But after many false starts it turns out you were always going to be an engineer. You will drop out of your politics and economics degree and it will be the best decision you ever made. You will learn what failure feels like and stop worrying about it so much. You will start to see the future as fun and exciting rather than stressful and burdensome. You won’t know any of this until you experience it so there is really no point in telling you now but hopefully you can sleep better knowing that even though it feels like a complete nightmare right now – it all works out pretty well in the end.
All the best,
Shona
Éadaoin
Dear Teenage Me,
I know being one of only four girls in your woodwork class feels a bit intimidating sometimes. And yes, it’s really annoying that your nail varnish is permanently chipped from helping Dad with the house extension or making planters for Mum’s flowers. But stick with it as along with becoming the favourite child, you'll come home from LONDON (yes you live there now) and feel genuinely proud of all the things around the house that you designed and built yourself.
That satisfaction you get from making something from scratch and watching it come together is actually something you’ll love doing for a living one day. All those questions you keep asking turn out to be a good thing. Curiosity doesn’t always kill the cat, it eventually leads you to become a structural engineer! Asking why and how things work the way they do becomes a real strength later on, helping you understand problems and figure out how to solve them.
So keep building and keep asking lots of questions!
Love,
Future You
Sara
Dear Teenage Me,
You're probably sat at the back of your maths class chatting away, and whilst most of the time it's about literally anything else, sometimes you're actually talking about maths or science problems and working through them with your mates. I know you don't realise it yet but it's the problem-solving that you enjoy, that's pretty much what engineers do!
It doesn't feel very cool to enjoy maths and science and in an ideal world I know you'd want to be spending all your time doing some sort of sport (you play rugby now by the way and love it, obviously), but those subjects are actually pretty fun, interesting and you’re good at them.
You still think that architecture is for you but the bit you like is in fact engineering so give that a crack. Believe it or not, it's going to take you to do a really cool degree in a city you love, and then to live in London! And those people you're sat next to in maths class? Still some of your best friends!
From Future Sara
Daisy
Dear Teenage Me,
I hope you are feeling okay and managing the chaos of being a teenager! You've got so much ahead of you, these next few years are going to be transformative, and to help you get through it here's some advice.
Trust the process! I know you might feel a lot of pressure to succeed but you will end up in the right place. Uni is just around the corner and you're going to love it. I know you were debating which course to take, but I can assure you that you made the right decision. Plus, uni is so much more than the course and you will have a lot of fun too (despite the pandemic). Afterwards you will go on to get a great job where you learn from extremely knowledgeable engineers and like-minded people who also care about sustainable design.
Have confidence in yourself! I know it's a male-dominated industry but don't let that make you think any less of yourself. You will meet a lot of brilliant women along the way who will inspire you. You're going to smash it!
Lots of love,
Daisy
