My “Why”

Buckle up SiS, it’s a long one…

My First Love…

When I started elementary school, my mother enrolled me in an arts based, “gifted” school, and at the time I was in what was known as the ‘Sigma’ program. At that time, students had to test to get in to this specific class where the course work was slightly more rigorous. If the student did not pass the test, they were placed in one of the standard classes. I remember feeling nervous about the test, as the school did not originally want to let me test for it; perhaps they did not believe I could place, perhaps they were nearing capacity… who knows. But, all I know is, I GOT IN!

This school was amazing. It offered me an outlet to express myself creatively. They offered music, drama, dance, and you’d better believe I was involved in it all. Every year I was in a show, or two, and my family would always be in the audience to come watch me.

Once I graduated for there, I just knew I wanted to go in the arts, it was a no brainer. However, growing up in NYC as a young black girl from Brooklyn, that was the last school I’d attend that would offer me opportunities like that. When I turned 16, I tried to get into the entertainment industry on my own through modeling and acting, but without formal training, was met with a lot of rejection…

My “Undercover” Love…

I always loved science growing up. I was the kid who would ask a lot of questions, sit in the front of the class, engage in all the labs, etc. I was just always eager to learn.

When I got to HS, there weren’t that many science courses available to me. Growing up in NYC, I was automatically slated to take the standard Living Environment, Chemistry, & Earth Science. When I got to my senior year, I really wanted to take AP Biology, since I enjoyed Living Environment. However, the science teacher at the time, a non-POC, declined me, and stated that “I wasn’t fit” to handle such a course. I felt defeated. I thought about reporting her, but what good would that have done? What’s done was done, and I instead focused my attention on going to college and being the best I could be.

I attended The Sage Colleges in Albany, NY, where I met a wonderful professor (who I’m still in contact with today) who became my mentor, college advisor, and life-long friend. She saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself, and she helped me grow in my studies while in school, and as I transitioned out.

She actually was the first person to really encourage me to pursue teaching. I was her Teaching Assistant every semester of college starting from my sophomore year (that was the earliest she hired TA’s). She also gave me the opportunity, twice, to lead a lecture before freshman biology lab class. At the time, I was the only TA to take this opportunity from her.

Mentorship

In 2017 I started working at the Intrepid Museum for the former summer intensive, GOALS for Girls. This is where I met my second mentor, and my love of mentorship began.

This program was a 6-week intensive for rising 9th & 10th grade girls where they deepened their STEAM knowledge and engaged in Mentorship Days, where women in STEAM careers would come and speak to them about their journey’s. The founder, a Black women, cared (& cares) deeply about black and brown female representation in STEAM. She made it her duty to provide outreach to underserved communities, so young women who look like us could have an opportunity such as this one. Such opportunities are super important, as they can be put on college application, internship applications, and so on.

She and I clicked immediately. So, when she asked me to continue to be a part of her team by being a GOALS mentor for the internship program extension, it was a no brainer. I enjoyed

Content Creation & the Birth of SiS…

During the pandemic, while we were all sitting at home bored, I started to think about my first love. I realized that I had sort of diminished that part of me because I felt so discouraged after the rejections. So, I thought, what’s something I could do that would broadcast my artistic side? Voila! Asijá Simone was born!

Since 2020, I have been creating fashion, beauty, & lifestyle content, and I’ve built myself a nice lil’ community of women who hype each other up and push themselves out of their comfort zone.

Since the moment I started, I’ve been thinking a lot about how I can marry all my passions of Art, STEM, & Mentorship. And I realized that I would not be where I am today without powerful female mentorship.

I care deeply about black and brown female representation within the Arts and STEM, and want to offer a community of mentorship and guidance to the next generation. I founded SiS to be a place where Black & Brown STEAMists feel seen, heard, and valued, and a place where support each other and cheer each other on.

Mentorship & sisterhood is so important, and I hope that SiS is the place you think of as you navigate your own STEAM journey, no matter where you are in that journey. And, I hope you see that you can be multifaceted, and indulge in your interests, no matter how different they may be! Take me as an example!

Welcome to Sisters in STEAM! I’m SO happy you’re here <3