By Kailyn Huynh
If you walk into Eduard Lavrov’s room on a Thursday lunch, you’ll likely find a group of young students attending a Girls Who Code (GWC) meeting, eagerly learning about coding and STEM. And, at the front, it will be no surprise to find sophomore Suri Le guiding their presentation with a bright smile and a pink shirt.
Over recent years, we’ve seen waves of change in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics as women become increasingly prominent figures in this community. At Fountain Valley High School, we look to Le, who is leading the push to educate others on the values and excitement of having a passion for STEM.
As president of the newly-founded GWC club, Le cultivates a place for those taking an interest in STEM. Her source of inspiration came from her experience over the past three years as a participant in Kode with Klossy (KWK), a free, all-girls coding program that takes place during the summer.
When describing KWK, Le explained the special nature of the program: it gave her the opportunity to reach out and connect with others while sharing their common pursuit of STEM.
“Not only does the program teach you useful technical skills such as coding, prototyping and presenting, but it also has an amazing alumni community,” Le said. “I wanted to take a similar approach when starting Girls Who Code to provide that community for girls aspiring in STEM on our campus as well.”
Le also serves as business lead for both the FIRST Tech Challenge team Inkineers and the school’s Rock-It Robotics team. In addition, following her achievement in the Congressional App Challenge — a national software development competition hosted by the United States House of Representatives — Le went on to become the current social media lead for the app’s “Debugged” podcast.
However, Le’s genuine passion for science and technology spans far beyond any titles or awards.
“If I could give a seminar about anything, it would be the intricate web of connections that bind everything together,” Le said. “Technology plays a vital role in connecting people not only with themselves but also with the world around them.”
Recently, Le has taken a particular fascination with computer programming and human interaction. She noted a special interest in Stanford’s Symbolic Systems and UCLA’s Cognitive Science programs, which combine her two passions.
Le explained that her love for STEM draws from her experiences in being able to educate others.
“With volunteering and other activities, I’ve been able to introduce everything I love about robotics and coding to young children, adults who are curious about STEM education and people in leadership positions that want STEM to impact their communities or organizations,” Le said.
Le describes sharing her knowledge and passion with others as the thing that she looks forward to the most.
Though her journey is far from over, Le has faced enormous growth in her character through public speaking and interacting with people around her.
Still, there is one thing that she wishes to change in the future.
“At its core, technology was made to aid human life, but the industry has seemed to divert [from that] … I want to improve accessibility to technology and would like to see growing movements [that are] used for good,” Le said.
In a few years, it will be no surprise to see Le at the forefront of that change.
This article was originally published in the 2024 RED Magazine. Stop by room 306 to pick up a copy.
