A day of robots and dreams

DeVry Institute of Technology's cafeteria filled with screams on Friday, December 15 as 117 teenage girls raced to finish building robotic mice first - the winners were to receive gift cards from Best Buy.
&#8220Hurry up, hurry up,” Archana Rao, a Townsend Harris senior, told her classmates - Raidah Islan, Kallana Ranpersad, Arita Sankar, and Jessica Monalall - as the girls put the whiskers on their mouse, the last step.
But the Townsend Harris team was seconds too slow; three girls from Bronx Academy of Health Careers finished first.
&#8220I feel a little bit cheated,” Islan joked after the contest, explaining that building the robot - the &#8220Wall-Hugging Mouse,” which requires two internal motors - had been her favorite of the day's activities.
Also on the program's agenda, touted as a day to show girls that business and technology careers are chic and not geek, were &#8220HerWorld” speakers - Dawn Carrillo, the assistant vice president and New York metro regional marketing manager from Banco Popular North America, and Vanessa Rucker, the assistant treasurer from BNY Asset Management - and a panel discussion.
&#8220It's pretty nice,” Islan said of the event. &#8220We get to be in a college campus and get an idea of what they do here.”
Although Jamaica resident Islan plans to study law - not business or technology - she could envision how the program would encourage teenage girls to pursue careers in these areas, which have continued to be dominated by men.
&#8220I think that they [the students] are getting to see what women, in general, can do,” said Evelyn Loveras, a Townsend Harris graphics arts teacher.
Along with career advice, speakers also touched on the issue of scholarships and financial aid, which can allow the students to attend colleges and universities that would be otherwise out of reach.
&#8220For many of you in this room, you may get into the college of your dreams,” said Maggie Chadwick, who works in the admissions department of DeVry, explaining that when the price tag is too high, students sometimes have to forego their dream college. &#8220That's what scholarships are - a little bit of effort to change your situation.”