Sports and STEM: A Young Zumba Instructor’s Mission
“Science is not a boy’s game, it’s not a girl’s game. It’s everyone’s game. It’s about where we are and where we’re going. Space travel benefits us here on Earth. And we ain’t stopped yet. There’s more exploration to come.”
I have always had a natural ability for math and science. I fell in love with math class because understanding numbers was easy for me. However, there were always more boys than girls in all of my math and science classes. As I learned more about women’s rights, I wanted to encourage other girls to love STEM too. I’ve been very fortunate to have family, teachers and members of the community motivate me to pursue STEM. I know that a lot of girls don’t have the same kind of support, so I developed a passion for inspiring other girls to pursue STEM.
In 2017-2018, women in the USA earned a majority of all degrees awarded but accounted for 53% of STEM bachelor degrees and 48% of STEM doctoral degrees [1]. Women made gains – from 8% of STEM workers in 1970 to 27% in 2019 – but men still dominate the field, with men making up 52% of all US workers but 73% of all STEM workers [2]. Girls need female role models to look up to. I want girls to know they can be both strong at sports and successful in STEM! They can use STEM to achieve their goals on and off the sports field.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, as a high school student, I became one of the youngest licensed instructors at Zumba Fitness in the USA. I taught Zumba alongside my mom to participants of Working Together, a non-profit that supports low-income families in Illinois. I loved volunteering as a Zumba instructor and helping people in my community by providing a fun way for people to exercise and improve their health.
When the pandemic began I wanted to continue to serve my community and did not want to stop teaching Zumba. So, I turned my family’s unfinished basement into a fitness studio and started teaching free, online Zumba classes for kids. I offered classes for free to help all kids keep their bodies and minds active during lockdown, and to give parents a break!
Zumba Kids classes provide a fun way for kids to be active and dance to their favorite music. The classes are not just limited to dance and include stimulating games, activities, and cultural exploration elements. I wanted to share my passion for STEM with others, and keep the kids’ minds active during lockdown, so I expanded the Zumba Kids classes to include a variety of STEM projects.
Many of the STEM projects used easy-to-find materials at home to make crafts like a paper flower or a water bottle launcher. Every week, I would post a class on social media with a unique theme – such as showtunes, girl power and Math and Statistics Awareness Month – and a STEM craft to go along with it. By creating programs on both Zumba and STEM, I hoped to show kids they could learn and have fun at the same time.
I created my website, JuliaZumba.org, to share my Zumba Kids classes with a wider audience and promote STEM in even more creative ways. There I share five-question video interviews with women role models in STEM, including engineers, doctors, physicists, and STEM students. I also post interviews with Zumba instructors who work in STEM fields. By combining my passions for Zumba and STEM, I hope to show young women everywhere that they can pursue both STEM fields and sports.
To continue my advocacy for girls in STEM, I became an Ambassador for the international non-profit greenlight for girls (g4g) in October 2020. Based in Belgium, g4g encourages young women from all over the world to pursue STEM. In January 2021, I was appointed Ambassador Coordinator – in this role, I manage projects for Ambassadors worldwide who work with girls in their communities to study STEM.
Throughout the pandemic, I have also continued to train in karate. I earned my black belt followed by the “sempai” designation, which means “teacher.” I placed 3rd in Advanced Kumite (fighting) in the 2021 USA Karate Nationals, and was selected as a member of the USA Karate Delegation for the 2022 International Maccabiah Games. I was also named a SheIS nation ambassador, to demonstrate female success in sports. Its STEM in the Stadium project shows how female athletes utilize STEM to achieve their goals in sports; for example, how padding specifically designed for the female form is helping hockey players achieve their personal best on the ice.
I loved the response I received for teaching Zumba classes and organizing STEM projects! It was amazing to see the positive impact my classes had on people during the pandemic – I was overjoyed! I did encounter some challenges: some participants had difficulties accessing my online classes, and there was always the potentially negative cultural implications of girls pursuing STEM in their communities worldwide. These challenges inspired me to find new ways to support girls pursuing STEM. I am now spearheading a city-wide initiative for all students in my area to participate in Day of AI and other STEM events.
In the future, I hope to continue advocating for girls in STEM worldwide while encouraging them to keep their bodies and minds active, to pursue STEM and to remember that they can be both strong and smart. I hope to inspire girls to combine their interests, create something new and accomplish their goals, just as I have combined teaching Zumba Kids with STEM.
References
[1] R. Fry, B. Kennedy and C. Funk, “STEM Jobs See Uneven Progress in Increasing Gender, Racial and Ethnic Diversity,” Pew Research Center, April 1, 2021. [Online]. Available: https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2021/04/01/stem-jobs-see-uneven-progress-in-increasing-gender-racial-and-ethnic-diversity/. [Accessed 26 December 2021].
[2] A. Martinez and C. Christnacht, “Women Making Gains in STEM Occupations but Still Underrepresented,” Census.gov, October 8, 2021. [Online]. Available: https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/01/women-making-gains-in-stem-occupations-but-still-underrepresented.html. [Accessed 26 December 2021].
