Breaking the Code with Fernanda Vargas

Cindy: Breaking the Code with Gabriella tells the story of a young girl who overcomes gender stereotypes in robotics, cementing herself as a role model for young women. The book includes science and engineering information, such as the design process and Java tutorials. As part of our initiative to empower young girls to pursue their interests in STEM, we are running the Breaking the Code with Gabriella: Trailblazers in STEM Speaker Series, which explores the careers of women in science, technology, engineering, and math. The series aims to dispel gender stereotypes and aid young students in getting advice on how to pursue their own passions. 

Cindy: Today I'm here with Fernanda Sulantay Vargas, who is a chemical engineer, a computational scientist, a content creator, and a mom of two kids. She was born and grew up in El Salvador, and she moved to the United States when she was 19 years old. As the first person in her family to go to college, Fernanda faced many challenges but achieved remarkable academic milestones including a Bachelor's degree and two Master's degrees in Chemical Engineering. She is now working on her Ph.D. at Yale University, where she was awarded the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship and the GEM fellowship. Fernanda has more than 350,000 followers on social media, where she shares her journey in STEM and gives advice on how to succeed in college. Now, I'll let you tell me a little bit more about yourself and your journey in STEM: anything that you think is notable.

Fernanda: Yes, hi everyone, my name is Fernanda. My journey in STEM started in middle school. At that time, I took an algebra class and some science classes, and I started to gravitate toward those subjects because they were very fun for me. Later on in high school, I took more classes, and that's when you decide what you want to study in college. At that point, I wanted to study math. I didn't know what engineering was, but my math professor told me “You should try engineering.” So I looked it up and decided to go for it at that moment. I didn't know exactly what engineers did, but I saw the curriculum and I was like “There’s a lot of science classes, a lot of math classes—this looks like fun.”  And that's how it all started. Now, I really love it because, with science and math, you can understand the world, but with engineering, you can create and innovate for the future. And what was the second part of your question? 

Cindy: Oh, just anything about your future goals or current interests. 

Fernanda: Yes, so as you mentioned, right now I'm doing research and working on my PhD, which going to be done in about two years. After that, I want to work in a startup, in the research and development area, and then later on start my own startup. As you mentioned, I also do social media, which is my way of doing outreach. I see myself continuing to work on outreach because I love helping students who have a passion but might be at a disadvantage.

Cindy: I know you mentioned that you're currently a PhD student at Yale. Could you give a little more insight into what you're doing and what your day-to-day tasks look like?

Fernanda: Yes, so every day is different when you're doing your PhD. In the beginning, if you're doing a PhD in the US, you have to do research, but you also have to take a lot of classes. Once you're done with your classes, usually around the first two years, you're just doing research. I say it’s different because it depends on what stage you're at. You might be reading a lot of papers to do a literature review to start a project, or you might already be working on your project, doing experiments, troubleshooting, and reading more to figure out how to fix problems. Remember, you're doing something new that nobody has done before, so there's a lot of trial and error, and a lot of error, which I wasn't used to, but now I am.

Fernanda: Or you might be in the stage of writing, either the papers you're going to publish or your dissertation. Depending on what stage I'm in, that's what I'm doing. The cool thing is that because I do computational work, I can either work from home, go to university, go to libraries, or find different spots because I don't have to be in a lab. I just need my laptop, and I'm good.

Cindy: That sounds super interesting. For people who might be considering a doctoral degree, what advice would you give to them?

Fernanda: Yes, I think that when I did it, I wasn't thinking much about anything. I was just super interested in doing science and research. But now, looking back, I think it's very important in your undergrad to explore and try different things. First of all, I would encourage people to do research in their undergrad at least once so they can figure out if this is something they really want to commit to because doing a PhD is a long commitment. Getting a taste of it before deciding is super important. Also, try to do an internship so you can get a taste of the industry and then decide.

Fernanda: Once you're choosing your PhD program, I feel like a lot of people go by the name of the university, but there's a lot more to it. You should figure out if the lab you'll be joining is a good place for you. How do the graduate students look? Are they happy to work there? Do they feel like the money they're getting paid is enough? When you're doing your PhD, you get paid, so are you getting paid enough to live in the city where you'll be living? That's actually super important. I have friends who were getting paid half of what they needed to live in that city, which meant they had to take extra jobs, adding more work and burden. That's something to look at.

Fernanda: Once you decide, as I said, this is a commitment for five years, so you should choose something you have a passion for and really like. As I mentioned, there will be a lot of trial and error, and you really have to believe in yourself. You have to work on yourself, your time management skills, and the discipline you're going to need.

Cindy: Definitely lots of great advice for aspiring scientists. Throughout your doctoral degree, what would you say was the most surprising part of your experience that you might not have anticipated before starting?

Fernanda: As I was mentioning at the end of my last answer, when I decided to do my PhD, I thought, "Oh my God, it's going to be so hard." Even when I started, the classes were difficult, and I thought the science was going to be the hardest part. But in reality, I feel like the self-discipline is the hardest part. You don't have a lot of deadlines. There are a lot of times when you're just working, and when you're taking a class, you know you're going to have an exam, you know you have homework due, so that pushes you to get it done by tomorrow. But in a PhD, you don't have those strict deadlines.

Fernanda: So it really comes down to having self-discipline and time management skills. As I mentioned before, because there's a lot of trial and error, you have to change your mindset. When I came from undergrad, I was used to getting either the wrong or right answer. You go to the exam, you get a grade, you give your homework, you get a grade—everything has a solution. But then you come to your PhD or do research, and you realize that things are failing, you don't know if they're right or wrong, and you have to make sense of it. A lot of it is unknown, so you have to change your mindset. I wasn't anticipating all the self-growth that I experienced.

Cindy: That definitely sounds like a very rigorous but rewarding process. You're probably a guest speaker often—how have doing speeches and conversations like this enriched your own experience and benefited others?

Fernanda: I love going to speak at conferences or schools and events like that because I love to share my story. I feel like sharing your story is very important to impact people who might think they won't be able to do things like this. This is something I went through as well. As you mentioned, I'm a first-generation student—my parents didn't go to college, so I never saw that at home. I never saw how people get degrees. My parents only have a high school diploma. Also, I immigrated from El Salvador, and there were a lot of challenges. I was in a situation where I thought I was never going to get out of it. I had to work full-time and go to school, and I was like, "When is this going to be easy? Am I ever going to make it?"

Fernanda: I remember that when I was at the end of my undergrad, I went to this conference about graduate school. I saw this girl from the MIT booth—if you're in engineering, you love MIT. I saw this girl, and she was also Latina. I was talking to her, and she was telling me her story, like “You always think the people who go to these places are super smart and have been working for this since first grade. Maybe some are, but others just have a passion. They’re good at what they do, but they didn’t have the opportunity to have tutors in high school or undergrad. They had to work and face challenges.” Her story sounded a lot like mine. I thought, "If she applied, then I can apply to these universities too." That's what encouraged me to apply to Yale. I didn’t think I was going to get in, but after hearing her story, I decided to apply just in case, and I got in.

Fernanda: That’s what I love about speaking—people come to me afterward, telling me they also went to a community college, or they’re immigrants, or whatever it is. I see that they did it, so now they feel inspired to do it. It’s also beneficial to me because I love doing outreach, but it’s also a way of networking and finding out what’s out there. For example, your story—I was looking at what you girls are doing with your book. I actually have it in my Amazon cart, and I’m going to order it in Spanish. I think it’s amazing. I wasn’t that type of kid in high school or middle school, but you guys are doing amazing, and it’s great to meet other people out there.

Cindy: Thank you so much! Your story sounds super motivational, and I can definitely see how everyone would be inspired by that. Throughout your career, have you faced any challenges as a woman in a male-dominated field, and how have you overcome them?

Fernanda: Yeah, you face different challenges. The most important one for me is that I have two kids. I had my son during undergrad, and my daughter during my PhD. I’ve been a student and a woman in STEM while having kids. It was very surprising to me how the system isn’t ready for moms in these types of careers. When I was asking for accommodations for simple things for moms, they were nonexistent. Everyone was like, "What’s going on?" But it’s 2024—how do you not have accommodations for moms? What about the professors? I realized that even the professors were having problems. For example, getting a pumping room if you're breastfeeding. But you have to go back to work, and you have to pump. I was just surprised, and you have to figure it out. Because there aren't a lot of us, maybe that’s why the system hasn’t changed. It’s already hard for us to be moms and women in STEM. It’s a lot of work, and the fact that they make it harder can be discouraging. But I guess this is what happens when you’re one of the first to do this type of stuff.

Cindy: I definitely agree. Even in this day and age, there should be more accommodations in science that don’t exist. I know that a lot of astronomy sites, for example, they’re not accessible by wheelchair or for disabled people at all. If you’re in a wheelchair or need another accommodation, it’s pretty much impossible for you to access some of these telescopes and sites. So I think a lot definitely needs to be done in that aspect. Finally, you're active on social media, and you share science news, progress, and your own work. What do you hope to achieve with this account?

Fernanda: Yes, I feel like I've gotten more out of it than I thought I would. At the beginning, it was more about my way of doing outreach. Before I had kids and before the pandemic, I used to volunteer in person a lot. After I had my son, it was harder to go out and do those things, and then the pandemic happened. So, I started doing outreach online, and a lot of people liked it. It went well, so it became a lot of different things for me. Now, besides doing outreach and connecting with people, it's also my business because I'm working with brands. I never thought I would do that. It's also a way of networking. I've met a lot of friends and even business partners. It's also my creative side hustle. I have so much fun creating content and editing. It's a way of saying, "Okay, I'm not doing science, I'm doing something fun." I hope it's entertaining for people. Sometimes I put out memes because I love memes. We're the meme generation, and I think it brings light to a bad day. If you're having a bad day, you go on social media, and you can have a laugh for a little bit.

Cindy: That sounds like a great way to unwind after work and also inspire the next generation. Finally, if there's any piece of career-related advice you could give to your middle school self, what would it be and why?

Fernanda: Yes, I actually want to give advice to kids nowadays. My middle school experience was different from what middle school and high school students are going through now. It's actually about social media. I love social media, and I work on social media, but I feel like kids are chronically online now, and that's not good for anyone's mental health. If it's bad for adults, I can't even imagine how it is for kids. What people don't know is that even though I work on social media, I take breaks. Sometimes I delete the apps for a whole week and only open them on the weekend. If I feel like it's getting out of control, I take more time off because it's bad to be online all the time.

Fernanda: I remember when I was a kid, I was outside playing with my friends and just having fun. I see a lot of kids who are very worried about the future and feel like they have to do a lot of stuff right now when they're in middle school. I'm going to tell you—you’re going to be fine. You can have time to study and work on your things, but also have fun and be a kid. As an adult, let me tell you, you're going to have a lot of responsibilities. It's not fun all the time. This is the only time you'll be truly free, so get off your phone and go have fun. Do activities outside, even if it's volunteering for your resume or doing things that will be helpful for your career. Do them outside and interact with people. Being online all the time isn't good, so that would be my advice—have fun, go outside, still work on your stuff, but be a kid.

Cindy: I totally agree with that. I think social media and online communities often deprive people of genuine face-to-face interaction, and that's starting to really fade away. It will likely continue to do so in the future. I think that's a worrying trend, and I totally agree with your heartfelt advice.

Fernanda: I was also going to add that social media is helpful in many ways because you can connect with people you wouldn't otherwise meet or have experiences you wouldn't imagine. But at the same time, as you said, face-to-face interactions are super important. Both should go hand in hand, but limiting your time online will be helpful for people.

Cindy: For sure, and I think that just speaking to someone in person, whether it be about your academic interests or one of your hobbies, is invaluable and cannot be replicated. Well, thank you so much for speaking with me today. 

Fernanda: Oh, it was so great. Thank you so much for having me.