There were LED lights, parachutes, hovercrafts and slime. Naval aviators, physicists, doctors and archeologists, oh my!

On March 30, Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division hosted 140 middle school girls and over 50 volunteers from the command and surrounding community for the 18th annual Expanding Your Horizons Conference in China Lake, California.

“As a high school student, I attended a summer seminar at the Naval Academy and it was, much like today, organized around a series of workshops,” said Rear Adm. Scott Dillon, NAWCWD commander, as he helped kick off the event. “From my experience, you will never regret your decision to pursue science or technology because one door opens to another and you can spend an entire career learning more about the technology that makes our world and Navy work. If you enjoy what you see here today, keep in mind that this is really just the tip of the iceberg.”

Joan Johnson, NAWCWD executive director, welcomed the students and shared her appreciation and love for science, technology, engineering and math.

“We love working here,” Johnson said, “because what we do matters for the men and women who serve all over the world, and if you’re interested in this, you learn why things happen and that’s really cool. I’ve been doing this for 36 years and it never gets old to me.”

Following a final morning address by Nina Doorenbos, a NAWCWD electrical engineer, the students dispersed throughout William B. McLean Laboratory to participate in three of this year’s 15 available workshops. For one hour each, they participated in hands-on activities to learn about various career opportunities and applications in STEM.

“One of the main things I hope you learn today – other than how awesome it is to be an engineer – is that confidence comes not from always being right, but from not fearing to be wrong, and to practice speaking up and asking questions as often as possible,” Doorenbos said. “It really is ok to not know things as long as you are willing to learn them.”

In addition to their workshops, the students were treated to lunch, a magnetic particle inspection demonstration by EYH “Gadget Girls” and material engineers, Delaney Ferrell and Amanda Cordes, and closing words from Megan Hyatt, a NAWCWD employee who attended EYH in middle school.

“Keep in mind that there are so many things you can do that involve science, math and engineering as a degree or outside of it,” Hyatt said. “While I do cost analysis as a profession, a lot of the things I do for fun are STEM-based, too. The opportunities to apply what you’ve learned are endless.”