My Mechanical Romance

by Alexene Farol Follmuth

She seems to think that makes me some sort of nepotistic brogrammer, when in fact it’s a matter of professional expertise.

the headache of me having to give yet another course on Welding 101.

No way they’re teaching these high schoolers welding

“I just...I’m not really a math and science kind of girl, you know?” “That’s not a thing,” she says, and nobody—nobody, certainly not a teacher—has ever been so dismissive with me before. “You obviously have a talent for creating things, Isabel. There’s no such thing as a mind for one subject or another. You have a mind that works, and works well. So use it.”

I like to think I have eccentric tastes in most things, but I like Taylor Swift, too. I’m human, after all.

he’s essentially the cult leader for a squad of worshipful dorks,

“Combat robots do exactly what it sounds like: they have weapons and they battle. There’s a fifteen-pound bot and a 120-pound bot,

I want to know what competition this is

Taking up your own space is honestly really hard to do.

But you get that this is high school robotics and not NASA, right?”

Jamie: omg i hate you so much and also i ship it so hard Bel: he literally hated me, like, last month Jamie: even better!! Jamie: enemies to lovers Jamie: the perfect ship Bel: we’re just friends Bel: less than that Bel: we’re academic colleagues Jamie: enemies to academic colleagues to lovers Bel: stop saying that

Teo slams into the side of the blue team’s bot, which is named—ugh. Make America Bot Again. MABA.

Maybe getting a little exaggerated

I realize I’m watching Bel fall in love (with robotics, obviously)

Ugh this is so cute and nerdy I love it

It uses such high kinetic energy

Ah yes

This is my fourth year doing this. I know by now what to expect. (I should know by now how to win.) This is my last year. My last Regionals. This is my chance. (My last chance.) I know what I’m doing, even if no one else does. (I have to know what I’m doing. Because no one else does.) I’ve come too far to fail. I worked too hard. I led this team. (Failure is not an option.) “I’ll be right here,” Bel says softly. I open my eyes, exhaling. I can’t fail. Not now. Not today. (Not with her watching.)

I talked about how I always thought engineering was for boys or for people who loved math or for literally anyone who wasn’t me, until I realized there’s only rules like that if we enforce them.

“Then we could use a super light metal like titanium underneath.”

What is this budget???

“I find that many math and science teachers are quick to point boys in the direction of engineering careers. I had hoped to do the same for you.”

I work hard because no matter what I do, people will always tell me I should have done more. So I do the most. Because I understand that it doesn’t end here!”

Hey it’s the women in STEM anthem

there’s a lot of ways to be a girl

So true

I think that maybe if Neelam and I helped one girl believe she could do it—and that girl helps another girl—and then that girl helps someone—

“Make him sorry,” I mutter to Neelam, whose hands tighten around the remote when we step into our team’s designated area. “Oh, don’t worry. I’ll make him cry,”

I wish I could say it doesn’t bother me to hear Richardson mock us for being girls, but it’s totally frustrating. Not because it’s wrong—which it is—but because it’s exactly the sort of thing that prevents most girls from trying. The girls who get ahead are the ones who can let stuff like that just roll off their backs, but that’s not the easiest thing in the world to do. There’s a lot more kinds of strength than just being outwardly tough, and it’s a lot to ask of anyone to succeed when most people in the room are waiting to see you fail.

“Why aren’t more women in STEM?” This is why.