Nelli Tarapata

Hello everyone! My name is Tarapata Nellie, I live and study in Dnipro, in the Lyceum of Information Technologies, and I finished with honors the 9th grade. Studying in such an institution, I see how few girls are interested in the exact sciences. Actually, there are only 6 girls out of 32 students in my class! This is where the phrase "If not me, then who?" will be relevant, and this is what I first thought when I learned what STEM is.

During my studies, I participated in competitions in English and Ukrainian languages, as well as physics and information technology. That's how I realized that learning new subjects is my passion!

I heard and saw how cool people could be: they go to a bunch of events, they win, and for some reason my first thought was "I can't do that." But that's a lie. STEM taught me to believe in myself, and that the only obstacle in our own way forward is ourselves, our doubts, our insecurities. Of course, achievements don't simply fall from the sky, but you don't have to be Elon Musk to impress everyone! Each of us has their own way and there will always be those who are better or worse, but it should not affect one's own life - the main thing is to be yourself, to do what you like and can do.

I also heard other people telling me such things, but I thought others don't understand that it has nothing to do with reality. However, I soon realized that I simply overthink the situation! So I got myself together and started working on myself and was just crazy about what I managed to do.

All this would not be possible without wonderful organizers who give the opportunity to feel like a professional in any area, inspire and help us to find ourselves in this world!