My STEMLA Story: Daiana Azim '28
"STEMLA has taught me that a scientist is not simply someone who is a genius in science, but rather it is a way of thinking and acting that anyone can adopt and learn."
"STEMLA has taught me that a scientist is not simply someone who is a genius in science, but rather it is a way of thinking and acting that anyone can adopt and learn."
The STEM in the Liberal Arts (STEMLA) Program empowers Fellows as they undertake a four-year process of exploration, self-discovery, and identity building. The program centers around the development of a STEM identity, community and belonging, and career exploration, all of which are recognized as significant contributors to persistence and success in STEM. Daiana Azim is a member of the STEMLA '28 cohort and is an intended Neuroscience major and Computer Science minor.
Tell us a little bit about your STEM journey.
In fourth grade, I immigrated to New York from Kazakhstan. I felt like an aquarium fish in the Atlantic Ocean with gibberish all around me. My vocabulary consisted of nouns and verbs that I did not know how to string together. Sitting in the back corner of the classroom during math, the teacher posed a simple fraction problem that I knew how to solve. But, answering the question in English was unfathomable to me. As I tried to translate the answ