People's eyes get kind of wide when I first tell them I'm studying chemical engineering at college.

I guess it is surprising. I don't "look like" an engineer. 

I wear skirts

and dresses

and color-cooridinated scarves.

My shoes and my earrings tie my outfits together.

I'm pretty.

I'm social and talkative and go out shopping and go out to brunch and giggle with my girlfriends about cute boys. 

Oh

and I can take the derivative of (almost) any function you could throw at me.

Who knew.

Well I'm really not an enigma aournd my female engineer friends. 

While there are girls in my classes that are more reserved

many are just as girly and outgoing and giggly as I am.

I (optimistically)

believe that I live in a generation of girls that said 

"I love math 

and 

shopping"

and didn't think twice.

A generation of girls that said 

"I want to make a lot of money 

and I'm smart enough to do that 

for myself."

And maybe our society is taken aback by that

but we certaintly are not.

"It's hard"

isn't deterring us.

"It's for boys"

just isn't convincing anymore.

"Nerd"

doesn't have to mean living under a ock with a textbook and calculator.

"Smart"

doesn't mean weird or anti-social and 

"girly"

certaintly doesn't mean dumb.

So maybe we're moving to a place where women working in research labs won't be mistaken for secretaries 

by their male coworkers. 

For now, I don't mind that people's eyes get wide when I talk about multivariable calculus.

Take a look at the new sterotypical engineer.