One hundred girls will enter a room at Malawi University of Science and Technology. Eighty of them will be residents from either Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Liberia, Uganda or Zambia and the other 20 will be travelers from the United States. All 100 girls will be present with one common goal in mind: to dive deeper into the various fields of technology in a cross-cultural environment. Among the girls will be junior Meg Schwartz.

Schwartz was chosen as one of 20 girls from the United States to participate in this year’s Women in Science Girls STEAM Camp.The camp will bring these 20 girls from the United States to MUST on July 30 where they will be joined by 80 girls from six different English-speaking African countries for two and a half weeks to work collaboratively on various group project in STEAM fields. The goal of this camp is to enhance the campers’ STEAM skills, empower them to develop their leadership potential and build camaraderie and networks that will propel them to new opportunities in STEAM fields, according to the Girl Up website.

“It’s not a service trip, which is kind of unusual if you are going to an African country, but it’s more of a cultural immersion project,” Schwartz said. “We will be working with girls just like us in countries that might not have the same resources that we do. Together we will work on STEAM projects and share our own perspectives and talents.”

The focus of a WiSci camp is to create a safer and more secure world by utilizing all aspects of technology. This camp aims to close the gender gap through access to education, mentorship opportunities and leadership training. According to the Girl Up website, the theme of this year’s camp is using technology to create a safer, more secure world, with a focus on preventing gender-based violence.  

This year will mark the third time the camp will be held, but the first time that Schwartz will attend. Schwartz decided to apply this year with the hope that her interests in technology will be furthered.   

“I’m interested in tech as a career, so I think learning about tech will be really valuable from the trip,” Schwartz said. “I am also taking AP computer science next year, so I will be getting a background for that.”

However, strengthening her STEAM skills was not the only factor that attracted Schwartz to apply. She is also excited for the cultural aspect and expects to learn a lot from both the girls she will be working with and the leaders who were selected to lead the camp.  

“I’m excited to just really get a feel for the aspirations and the talents of girls just like me around the world, and how they might be different based on their living situations or how they have been brought up,” Schwartz said. “I think it is unique to see the perspective of people of different cultures, especially in Africa, traveling not in a mission trip but just working collaboratively.”

Schwartz’s mother, Paddi Schwartz, is very proud and excited that her daughter sought after this opportunity to travel across the world and was selected from a pool of talented and smart girls worldwide. Paddi believes that this trip will not only offer incredible exposure to the different fields in STEAM, but also will provide a new culturally-diverse perspective on the world.    

“In addition to the STEAM knowledge, I hope that Meg will gain a perspective that will give her a prism to guide her future plans,” Paddi said. “I hope she will gain a gratefulness, an openness to others and their cultures, a lifelong curiosity about the world and ideas about the role she may play in helping others.”

Schwartz was introduced to this camp through her involvement in Girl Up. Last year Schwartz found this organization on Instagram and decided to bring the club to Sion after noticing that Kansas City didn’t have a club of its own. Since then she has only become more involved in the organization. At the end of her sophomore year, Schwartz became a teen advisor for Girl Up and will hold this position until June. Now Schwartz is getting involved in another layer of Girl Up through her participation in the WiSci STEAM camp. 

“I love that she sought out Girl Up and found a way to make it a part of her life and life at Sion. She has learned so much about everything from the effect of politics on the UN, to making jewelry for a fundraiser, to appreciating the obstacles to education that girls faced around the world,” Paddi said. “I hope she sees ways we can all make a difference.”