Dear Boys,

Please don't treat girls like we're not equal. 
I would like to start off this blog post with a story from May 18, 2017. I was in fourth period with my friends, most of which are girls, in our least favorite class, P.E. During P.E. we were playing a game that I assumed was meant for kids around the age of 10 to 12. Yet, we were going to play it in P.E. Of course, with simple games like these, the boys tend to get very competitive. The game was similar to basketball. The objective was to get a ball down the court by tossing it to other team mates. Then, the ball would be thrown into a trampoline-like thing, and when it springs back up a player must catch it in order for a point to be made. Some of my friends were put into the first round of the game. I quickly realized that the ball wasn't being passed to the girls at all. Being a person that automatically stands up for what she believes in, I began shouting that the girls were open and read to be passed to. Still nothing. The game ended, and new girl friends were put in. Still, nothin was passed to them. I was getting frustrated. Why weren't we being passed to? We were completely open! Finally, it was my turn to go in the game. My P.E. teacher mentioned something about involving girls, but no one really listened. I ran up and down with the game, but was passed to once. Once.
End of story. The point is: why did boys not feel the need to pass to girls? Are we not equals and both capable of playing the game?? 

Me being perplexed. Courtesy of Green Auto Market
I just want to know why guys do not feel as if it is okay to pass to a girl? Do they not believe that she is able to pass the ball as well? I believe that things like this come from years of gender stereotyping. I make this claim due to the fact that since long, long ago, women have been seen as the baby makers or the weak. The gatherers, not the hunters. Only on occasion have some females branched out and proven themselves as the strong. Kudos to these women for proving the stereotypes wrong, but it doesn't mean they don't exist. My point is that I believe men still perceive women not as equals. I believe that going back hundreds of year and comparing it to the now, women still wouldn't be passed to. Heck, women wouldn't have even been playing.
In conclusion, I would very much enjoy if women could be passed the ball. Give us a chance to show you that we can do it as well, just as well. Women deserve to be treated equally. If we're in the game, let us play.

More Than Robotics.

Recently, I was confronted about this blog and what we will be posting about. I was told by a reader, "You should do a post on dress codes and how it's biased against girls. I know your blog is about robotics, except I think it's also about girl power, and I feel like dress codes are an important issue that almost every girl has or is experiencing." First off, I would like to say thank you for reaching out to us and letting us know what you'd like to hear. Feel free to do this whenever. Leave a comment on one of our posts letting us no what you would like to hear from us. Second, I think this made me open my eyes. I read over some of our posts keeping in mind the question: "What are we trying to deliver to our readers through this blog?" Part of the point of this blog is to use it to reach out to readers and let them know who we are. This raises another a question: "What do we want our readers to know we stand for?" I want everyone to know that we're not just a robotics team of all girls trying to raise awareness for the lack of girls in STEM fields, but we are also seeking justice and equality for girls. Not just justice and equality for girls seeking a place in a STEM field, but for girls that have ever been turned away, oppressed, or poorly treated because of their gender.
From now on, we will be posting about things that matter... and robotics. This will be a blog to discuss current issues jeopardizing the safety and comfortability women have. I am excited to announce this. With the help of the blog and our readers, we can be able to make waves. Let's change how women are treated. We can start in our state, next our country, then the world. Let's show them who's boss.

Creds to Tumblr.

Dear Reader,

Dear Halle Gregory,

You recently approached me about one of our posts. The post about the article that I recently read. Being one of my close friends, you were able to share with me how you felt about that article. You told me that the review on the article had upset you because you believed that I was targeting girls that like hair and makeup. I am sorry I offended you, Halle, and I would like to take this opportunity to reply to what you said to me, and, perhaps, clarify my teams message. 

Dear Reader, 

STEM is for everyone!
Image credit to
eurokulture.missouri.edu

We believe that anyone can do robotics, despite their gender, age, race, or hobbies. Our goal is to include you. We want to break stereotypes and show everyone that the girls that like things that are "girly" are doing robotics. We certainly would not want to make you feel oppressed or excluded in any way. As a matter of fact, the four of us girls on Team Ultimum Dominarum are pretty "girly" ourselves. Iva, for example, is a person that takes pride in her clothes and how she looks, which I admire her for. She probably gets up early some days to do her hair or something extra special with her look that day. I know for a fact that Iva does her hair and makeup, too. We accept this and encourage her to take part in this daily activities that she likes. We also encourage Iva to come to robotics looking like this. I, too, am a culprit of doing this as well. I sometimes wake up at 5:30 in the morning, instead of my usual wake up time of 6-6:30 a.m, just to prep myself for a day where I can feel extra good. I wake up and immediately start prepping. I pick out an outfit, do my hair, put makeup on, and look in the mirror twenty times just to make sure that I look perfect. I strut through the halls feeling so good about myself, as I am sure most people do when they manage to put in a little extra effort. When the final bell rings though, I am not afraid to go to robotics because of how I chose to present myself. In fact, that is what we're trying to promote. We want you feel safe when you participate in STEM fields like robotics. To read more about the road to encouraging pretty girls to get into STEM, you can go to a really cool website that I found. Whether you are a girl who doesn't care about how she looks, a boy that likes to dress in a suit and tie everyday, or a person who identifies as a freaking attack helicopter, you are welcome, and you can do anything that you put your mind to. Diversity is a good thing, so I encourage you differentiate yourself. Bring something new to the table. There is no adversity when it comes to diversity!

So finally, don't be afraid to get up a half-hour early to curl your hair, beat your face, and make your outfit extra cute. Don't be nervous to strut into a robotics meeting in your high heels and dress, because I, and the rest of my team, love to do it too!

-Kristina

An Interesting Article

Recently, I read an article that I believe really hit home. This article is entitled "Why Parents May Cause Gender Differences In Kids". You can read the article. This article is really interesting because of what it talks about.
The article is about how stereotyping and underestimation starts at a very young age. It talks about how parents, even though they may not purposely mean it, discriminate against the ability of girls. Parents limit the abilities of girls as they grow up by treating them like they are not as able or need to be safer. 

Kristina and the robot we built.

The reason this article is something that is important is because we are doing something against what is commonly done by parents. The article talks about how parents typically push their boys to be smart and join clubs like robotics. Yet, when it comes to girls, they are less encouraged to go after the educational side, but to go after a slim, appealing figure. The reason that us, as a team, are able to thrive as a team is because we have parents who change it up. Our parents haven't limited our activities; rather, they have pushed us as much as they would push boys. The reason that we are a good team is because we have defied the odds. We have been raised to think less about how our bodies look and more about how our grades look. How will our transcripts as we graduate high school? What will differ our college applications from every other person that has applied? We were taught to be the future. One of the things that the article stresses is how girls have been held back by parents, teachers, and friends. We have pushed our limits and passed our points of expectations as girls. We are making the change. We are teaching others not to hold the girls back. We are setting the example that when a girl does something, it shouldn't be judged any different than from if a boy were to do it.
We are living by the quote "Be the change you wish to see in the world." 
I stress reading this article. When a problem is finally acknowledged as an issue, we are able to begin tackling it. One of the first steps to fixing anything is seeing that a problem actually exists. A change can not be made until everyone recognizes it as a problem. Ultimum Dominarum is working towards enlightening and influencing the people of the world to work to fix this issue.

We Made It On TV!

A big portion of FTC Robotics' goal is to have their teams outreach to the community that they are apart of. Today, as a team, we were able to reach out to our community that could impact many of the older people in our community. Wednesday, March 29th was our big TV debut. Now, we understand that being on the local TV station isn't a huge deal to many, but to us, it is. Being a rookie team, it is hard to get going in the right direction. We haven't done much yet, ad beside the fact that we're girls in the heavily populated male field called robotics, we don't have a ton to celebrate right off the bat. By saying this, I don't mean that we're not already a great team, because don't get me wrong, we are. Just we haven't won too often, and we cannot yet be celebrated for our wins. So today was a huge step in the right direction for us! Our TV experience was quite exciting for us. The show is available to watch on youtube, if you would like to see, you can go to this link.

Our team and Erin from the Ladybots on top of a PCTV car.

Behind the scenes on PCTV

Here's a little on how the whole thing went:
First, we all woke up bright and early in the morning so we would be at the PCTV studios at 7 a.m. Micaela and I (Kristina) arrived first. We were pleasantly greeted by the lady that would be interviewing us. Micaela and I sat down and immediately started to post all over Snapchat and Instagram about being at PCTV. We posted on our team Instagram that everyone can go follow(@ultimum_dominarum). Next, the other all girls team started putting on their microphones. They are called the Ladybots, and are one of the other 2 all girls Utah FTC robotics teams. They went in first to be interviewed. After sitting nervously for about 10 minutes, it was finally our turn. We were given microphones. We put them on and were ready to go. We went in and sat down on the couch. The anchor talked to us before we went on air. After, we all went out side and took pictures on top of the PCTV news car. Finally, we had to go back to school. 
We learned a bit from this experience. I think that things are beginning to change on how people look at robotics. During the whole experienced, we were being looked up to as girls in robotics. When we got to school I noticed that people thought it was really cool we were doing something like this. A teacher stopped to talk to us and told us how important it was to keep going. He told us that if we keep doing robotics, then other kids are going to start getting the message. The message is that robotics isn't just for nerds who have nothing better to do, but it is for everyone of all genders who want to invest in their future and come out of the program brighter and more experienced than others. 

Starting A Movement.

We came into robotics knowing that it was a field densely by boys. This did not stop any of us. We formed together as a team in late August. We began our robotics journey with three people, and from then on more started adding on to our team one by one. By this point we had eight people. Unfortunately, 9th grade drama got the best of some of us, and caused the team to decrease by half, giving us a total of four remaining members. Thankfully, we four members that remain work incredibly well together, and since then, there have been no team conflicts. We are an all girls team with multiple friends at school. Our goal is to break stereotypes and show others that robotics can be a very diverse program. And no matter what your background, it’s never too late, you can do it. We came into robotics with no prior experience. ZIP, NADA, ZERO, engineering experience. Being an all girl rookie team with no experience did not stop us. We got to work following a guide that FTC Robotics provided. Now you're probably asking, "What the heck is FTC?" FTC stands for First Tech Challenge. The organization FIRST gives a new challenge every year for teams to do. Teams immediately start making robots that can accommodate the challenge that FIRST has assigned. For more information on FTC, you can visit the FIRST website.

The very first robot we made
 named "Stephane"

Anyway, we began making a very standard robot that could do very standard things. We named this robot Stephane. This robot wasn't the best and couldn't do much. Later on, we built a robot that could do many more things. We named it OG Wobble. Original Gangster Wobble was named this because it was the coolest robot we had ever built and it tended to wobble a lot. This robot took us all the way to the State Championships.
When we were at the State Championships we were met with only two other all girls teams. There were many all boys teams in sight, but not too many containing girls. We fought our way through the day. Everything that could could go wrong, went wrong. We did not have a lot of luck during this tournament.

So now the big picture.
We completed our first robotics season as a rookie team. Now we are trying to spread the word that being a girl in robotics doesn't have to be a huge deal. No one should be surprised or shocked or sarcastically wish you luck. We want it to be a normal thing. If a girl says she's joining a robotics team, the response should just be "Oh cool!". We want more girls in STEM. Our mission is to reach as many people as possible. We want to inspire people, girls especially, too go after what they want, always. If a girl wants to be involved in engineering, she should go for it. Make a wave. Get the ball rolling. Start a movement. That is the goal of this blog.