Check out what our members are up to!

Hi everyone! My name is Norah Saraya, and I’m your new Vice President of Internal Operations of Miss Stem Careers! I am currently a junior studying Biology, Health, and Society on the pre-med track and plan on applying to medical school in the upcoming 2023 cycle! Specifically, cardiology has always had a special place in my heart (no pun intended!) ever since I was a child, after watching my uncle’s rewarding experience during his years of practice. However, had I not received this exposure to medicine at such a young age, I wonder if my career goals would be the same today, as I never received encouragement to pursue such a male dominated career within my middle and high school years. Would I still remain steadfast in my dream to become a cardiologist? Would I still appreciate the complexity and intricacy of the human body that I have learned as a biology major? That is why I decided to become a member of MSC: to simply provide young girls with the encouragement and motivation to pursue male dominated careers no matter how impossible it may seem to them. 

Despite my tenacity in pursuing cardiology, I have received pushback from others regarding the obstacles of being a female physician. When will you have time for a family? Why would you want to spend a decade of your life studying to become a doctor? Sadly, many women have felt the need to answer such questions and conform to socially accepted female dominated positions. This, in part, explains the sad truth: only 15% of cardiologists are women. MSC has helped to retaliate against such alarming statistics in a number of STEM fields, hoping to offer young girls within the Ann Arbor community the opportunity to not only learn about these careers, but also gain a passion towards them. We know that many girls, including myself, were not lucky enough to receive such exposure within their school. However, through MSC, we hope that our love and devotion to STEM careers will shine in each of our workshops, radiating to each girl that we hope to inspire. 

Norah Saraya

December 2022

Zara Khan

November 2022



Hi guys! Welcome to our November blog post! My name is Zara Khan and I am one of the co-founders of Miss STEM Careers, and I am also our Vice President-Internal! I am a senior at the University of Michigan studying Data Science through the School of Information and Cognitive Science through the School of Literature, Science and the Arts. After I graduate, I hope to pursue a career in business, specifically through the consulting industry. As an out of state student, coming to the University of Michigan was a difficult transition for me. I’m originally from Long Island, New York, where I went to a public high school. Coming into college, I felt wildly underprepared for what the classes would be like, and for things like club recruiting. I didn’t realize how hard my classes would be, and I certainly didn’t know how competitive some of the student organizations are, or how to prepare for that process. It took some time and adjusting, but eventually I got the hang of it. 

Through Miss STEM Careers, my hope is that we are able to educate these young girls sooner rather than later, so that they feel prepared every step of the way. It is so important that we support and uplift our mentees as early as we can - because women are the drivers of economy; and educated, powerful women enrich society in every way imaginable. If we give these girls the tools and the guidance necessary to succeed, we will slowly but surely close the widespread gender gaps that exist across STEM fields, and our mentees will go on to be the women that change the world. 

One of my favorite quotes reads: “One child, one teacher, one pen, and one book can change the world.” - Malala Yousafzai
Hi! I am Ella Baranski and I am currently a junior studying Psychology and Sociology with a sub-major in Health and Medicine. I had been on a pre-med track but over the summer I realized I had more of a passion for teaching than medicine. My current plans now include getting a PHD in Psychology and becoming a professor while also doing clinical work.

Miss Stem Careers was exactly what I was looking for. I love that I get to inspire these young girls to pursue a career in a STEM related field. I knew that I wanted to be involved in this club as much as possible after the first informational meeting. I applied for and became a member on the Board of Directors working with Amanda and Nicole communicating to the middle schools.  Beyond just giving the presentations to the middle schools girls, I love the community that MSC has given me. Everyone has been so welcoming and supportive and I feel comfortable going to the girls in this club with anything. I have been able to grow socially and academically because of this club. MSC offers a support system for the girls involved that focuses on building each other up and helping everyone become successful in any way possible. MSC has given me something passionate to look forward to. I enjoy spending my time with the other mentors and I am so excited for another year with everyone!

Ella Baranski

October 2022

Samhita Kotapati

September 2022

Hello everyone, and welcome to our monthly blog posts! I’ll start by introducing myself. My name is Samhita Kotapati, and I’m the co-founder and President of Miss STEM Careers! I’m currently studying Neuroscience with minors in Computer Science and Writing. I’ll be graduating in 2023 and hope to spend two gap years getting my Masters in Narrative Medicine before medical school. For me, deciding to become a doctor required years of encouragement, grueling self-reflection, and an infatuation with the STEM field which started from before my high school years. Finally, in 10th grade, I participated in the Perry Initiative Program, a day-long workshop designed to expose high school girls to the field of orthopedic surgery. Since that day, one simple statistic has stuck with me: only about 5% of orthopedic surgeons identify as female. Ever since, I’ve been determined to defy the odds by pursuing that exact career. 
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Honestly, I felt like I was back in the 1960s. The gender gap didn’t strike me as significant until I came to college when there were only 6 girls out of 50 people in my Undergraduate Engineering Orientation. When COVID hit at the end of my freshman year of college, I found myself thinking about ways that I could help my community. That’s when Miss STEM Careers started. I reached out to my friends, Neha, Ani, Zara, and Amanda, and formulated our plan to inspire young girls in STEM just like the Perry Initiative program did for me. We reached out to local schools and eventually found interest from Ann Arbor Public Schools and started our virtual workshops in the Winter semester of 2021. Ever since, I’ve made new friends, helped establish MSC as a nonprofit in Michigan, made so many new connections with women already pursuing STEM careers, and, most of all, hope to have inspired many young girls to pursue STEM in high school and beyond.
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