Angela Rivelli is a mechanical engineering student at San Francisco State University and an intern at Myra Vision, which develops innovative glaucoma therapies. After actively participating in the two-day DxD Healthtech Innovation Workshop, Angela shared her reflections with us.
My path to STEM has been anything but straight. I graduated high school with a 2.6 GPA and was voted “Most Likely to Host SNL” by my peers. Long story short, I am not the typical engineering student. My first time in college, I graduated with a communication degree and pursued that path for my career until I found myself extremely dissatisfied in my job with no real direction.
Because of my love of motorcycles, I decided to return to school to pursue a second degree in something I was passionate about: mechanical engineering. It turns out, I am a great student (better late than never, I always say). But I am constantly reminded of how different I am from my peers, and often feel out of place because my personality and academic career is unorthodox for an engineer. Thankfully, I have learned I am not the only person on Earth who suffers from imposter syndrome, but this has still been one the greatest challenges in this chapter of my life.
I knew that in order to make the most out of my engineering career, I would have to say yes to any opportunity that came my way. So, when attending the DxD HealthTech Exploration Workshop was offered to me through my internship at Myra, of course I said yes! The workshop was impactful to me in many ways, but most notably in helping me realize that my differences will be my greatest strengths, and that I do belong. I cannot overstate how much it meant to me to have the opportunity to see successful folks in the medtech industry speak from all backgrounds and walks of life, many of whom are women in stages of their engineering career where I aspire to be. As someone who feels out of place for not fitting into a traditional mold, spending two days listening and interacting with professionals who break the mold and experienced success because of it has tremendously shifted my perspective on what it means to be different. This is the power of representation and diversity.
Additionally, I was also encouraged to be myself on an interpersonal level. At one point on the first day, I found myself apologizing for asking too many questions. As a self-described loud person, I am cognizant of how often I am speaking up to ensure I am still allowing others an opportunity to share. Later that afternoon, as I was chatting with one of the speakers, Dr. Aisha White, she encouraged me to continue speaking up unapologetically because it helped introverts like her get comfortable sharing in these types of settings. The next day, I was also encouraged by DxD Healthtech Executive Director, Ingrid Ellerbe, to continue being confident and asking questions. I never knew that what I often feel is an unfavorable quality about my personality was being received positively by women I look up to and respect. Being loud, I am often heard, but I rarely feel seen to the degree that these women made me feel with such brief interactions.
I am sure I am not the only person who felt seen by these women or by others involved in the workshop over the two days we spent together. While it might seem small, these interactions have and will change the course of my career and my life. I was very much on the fence with the medtech industry, but they have successfully gained another loyal member and I will carry the lessons of the DxD Healthtech Workshop for life.
For more information about DxD’s HealthTech Innovation Workshop, click here.