FROM THE FOUNDERS

MAY L. (FOUNDER)

Hi, I'm May! l'm the owner of Girls in Math and a freshman at Carlmont High School. I created Girls in Math from my own experience as a girl who was told she couldn't succeed solely because of gender. When I was in middle school, I partook in one of my first math competitions, Mathcounts. When our scores came back from regionals, I was the top female scorer, placing at around 16th. All of the top 10 winners were boys, and although that surprised me, because I had never thought of math as a male-dominated field, I was still happy with where I had placed. However, my team undermined my success, telling me that it didn't matter because boys had placed higher. To all my girls: Your voice matters. Your success matters. I now know how much of a male-dominated field mathematics is, but I believe that the absence of girls in mathematics does not come from our ability to perform, but instead from how we're often underlooked for our abilities and discouraged simply due to our gender.  My goals for Girls in Math are to create a safe, welcoming space for girls to develop their math abilities and celebrate their successes and talents. I want girls and all students to have a place where they know that will be appreciated instead of put down. At Girls in Math, we will open the doors for many more young girls to pursue mathematics and allow the world to be able to hear their powerful voices and knowledge.