Hana B

I am a high school student in the Bay Area who moved to the US from Croatia in 2018. With my background, I understand and believe that scientific knowledge is currently available, all around the globe and relatively for free. Still, without proper support or role models, many people do not have the motivation to seek it out, especially in cultural contexts where STEM fields are not seen as viable career paths. One of my goals is to "popularize" STEM and make it more appealing to study science from a young age, especially by building more accessible materials for parents and teachers, through modern platforms like online courses, social media, cartoons, movies, and books. I have published a book of my own, Phys for Kids, an interactive and experiment/discovery-heavy physics workbook for elementary school students.

Additionally, I work for a local sports organization where I aim to implement technology into practices. I run the development team, code and maintain mobile applications (both iOS and Android), and hire & onboard new developers to take over the same responsibilities after I graduate high school.

I also tutor students at my school as a part of our Peer Tutoring program. Mostly, I help students with mathematics, physics, or computer science, and many of my students return for supplementary lessons.

Furthermore, I am an active participant in 11 clubs at my school; Girls Who Code, where I help run meetings and organize club events; Cultivate Thinking Club, where I teach monthly lessons at elementary schools; Physics Competition Club, and more. I believe that participating in extracurricular activities is a great way to expand my horizons, challenge myself in new ways, and grow as a person.