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The Goddess Speaks
IN elementary school I thought engineers were men who drove trains. As a freshman in college, I was urged by my advisor to take only the minimum requirements for math. "You're not going to use these math classes when you get married," I was told. High tech revolution
for girls, tooAs years sped by, I often found myself behind the power curve in the middle of a technology revolution with speedy modems, powerful microprocessers and a mouse quite different from one I chased with a broom many years ago.
Believe me, a day in the life of a middle-aged professional woman can become quite complicated with screens freezing, systems crashing and software playing hardball. Straddling the line between the world in which I was raised and the world in which I find myself has been, at times, frustrating.
Computers entering my life after I've passed 40 has meant I have had little patience with crashes and losses of files. I also endure the daily frustration of listening to those half my age discussing the findings displayed on their laptops while I am still struggling with the "save as" command.
And my three technologically inclined children have not helped me feel better about myself. Although I am convinced there would be nothing greater than a mom who can model high-tech moxie for her daughter and sons, I have tried to make up for it by maintaining a positive attitude, even when I have to listen to that dismissive tone from my offspring-in-the-know muttering, "Oh mom, I've been over this with you before. Just let your secretary do it!"
Even though I am of the generation that required a blow dryer instead of a PC in dormitory rooms, I've tried to acquire new skills on the job and in my home. In fact, my know-everything 16-year-old told me to get with the program or I would be left behind 25 years before retirement.
I'VE listened and have given computers my all. Apathy is not part of my vocabulary and progress in my workplace will never be halted by my passivity. Being the head of an all-girls school definitely played a role in fashioning my destiny.
My teachers, too, have pressured me, and I have listened to their mantra: "Trust us, give us the money to equip our classrooms and get training, and you will be proud of us!"
At first, all I had to do was close my eyes and sign the checks while they warned me not to be the stumbling block that would prevent our girls from qualifying for entry-level $75,000 Silicon Valley jobs. It was a leap of faith, but now I'm a convert.
Now, with so much technology at our fingertips at my school, our girls understand computer savvy cannot be measured by how many of us send email, use the Internet or make PowerPoint presentations. Rather, they recognize that we must use this technology proactively to analyze mountains of information, understand design concepts and be lifelong learners in the technology realm.
In a way, I have become a techno crusader. And, with women making up more than 50 percent of the work force, we need an aggressive plan of action to encourage our girls and women to pursue information technology credits.
When a sassy teen declares that technology is the stuff of geeks and nerds, not for them, we remind them to consider the sound of geek-nerd@millionaire.com.
Let's say to our girls, "Hey, do you like Super Mario Brothers? Then if you study computer science, you can create a complex program like this."
All of us must talk to girls about how the gift and presence of technology will shape their hopes and dreams for the future.
Betty White is the principal of Sacred Hearts Academy.
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