Dear reader,

My name is Déborah, I’m 22 years old and since completing my internship at greenlight for girls earlier this year, I’ve been working as a project coordinator with g4g for the past few months at their HQ in my hometown, Brussels. As I just graduated university, I’m now heading off on other adventures and have to leave g4g behind (for now).

When I started looking for an internship at the beginning of last academic year, I was scared not to find anything because of my pickiness. I figured I shouldn’t apply for something I wasn’t really interested in anyway and only sent very few applications. One of them was to greenlight for girls. A look through the website convinced me that this would be both a great place and a great cause to work for. Fast forward to my last days working at g4g, I’m glad it did, glad I was chosen and… glad I was picky.

Although I studied communications, I have always loved to learn new things and g4g allowed me to learn on different levels. Aside from the communication and project management side, I got to learn a lot about STEM too. In a way, I also got to be a “greenlight girl”.

During makerspaces, I taught the girls how to make slime, water rockets, racing robots…!

By now, I have attended a few g4g events, both in Brussels and in other locations, and have seen so many girls being inspired, ready to go off and become scientists. One of my favourite events was the g4g Day @Frankfurt with AIG, because I was involved in the organizational process, making it extra special to see it come to life. As many of you know, the g4g events are great, but what I’m most amazed at is the team behind these events. I have been part of an incredible team that makes seemingly impossible things happen, hands a solution to every problem, but above all a team with a big heart, each member passionate about what they are doing. This passion is what makes the events so wonderful, what makes the girls leave with a smile.

Throughout all the years we spend at school a lot of people have a lot of opinions. Parents, teachers, other kids… My advice for all the girls out there is to try to listen to themselves. Some people may think you are not able to do something or may think they know what is best for you, but don’t forget that this is your life. You get to decide and you can do anything you set your mind to. And of course, listen to good advice from your environment, but don’t let this advice define you. I have been told by teachers not to go university and look at me now, four years later, with a master’s degree in my hands! Through g4g, I have met so many incredible, inspiring people and you can be incredible and inspiring too!

I want to finish with two quotes. The first one is by Bette Nesmith Graham, a secretary who invented liquid paper as a way to easily correct mistakes made with a typewriter. Graham claimed that “overcoming fear is all there is to success.” The second quote is one I’m sure you already know and that I have heard quite a few times in my time at g4g: “Anything is possible!”.