Catalina Vega, Madrid, Spain
My name is Catalina, and I am from Madrid. My passion is artificial intelligence and I hope to later pursue a career in that field, however through my journey of discovering my passion in STEM, I have faced a lot of (unnecessary) obstacles. Most of these obstacles have had to do with my gender, not my ability or competence. For example, when I went to France to study artificial intelligence, I was the only female in the class, which was intimidating at first, but I learned to embrace it. However, time and time again, I noticed how I wasn't being called on, I never had the same outside opportunities, or I wasn't part of the community in my class. When people ask me why I am a feminist, I respond with "Why aren't you?" In this day and age, feminism is being morphed into a radicalized idea of women being greater than men, but the core of feminism is, and always will be, gender equality - not that women are greater than men, but equal. I have brought up my issues with the professor and they've been solved, and I hope that in the future, I won't have to have the same coversation again, whether that be about wages for the same job title or preference in the hiring process.