From Campfires to Curiosity, Zariah’s Journey into STEM and Stewardship
At Sierra Nevada Journeys, Zariah didn’t just come back for another camp, she came back for possibility.
“Oh, it’s super fun,” she said with an easy smile. “It’s like super inviting and everybody’s nice here, and it’s open to everybody.” For Zariah, a 14-year-old from Swope Middle School in Reno, Nevada, Girls in STEM Camp offers something school sometimes doesn’t: “You get to learn, but not in a way that’s like school, where it’s not fun and it’s just out of a textbook. You get to do hands-on activities, which is what I love.”
“I love environmental science,” said Zariah. “I love science in general; engineering is amazing.” But more than any one subject, what drives her is a sense of responsibility. “Mostly it’s just bringing the environment to a better state than it already is in, and a lot of that is through STEM.”
That mindset feels natural to her. “I don’t know why anyone wouldn’t care about the environment,” she said thoughtfully. “It’s given us literally everything. Everything that we have is because of what nature gives us; your house is built out of nature.”
Zariah first came to Girls in STEM Camp the year prior after spotting an opportunity. “My mom just asked if I wanted to do it, and I said sure because it’s a new way to see opportunities and I love STEM.” It fit perfectly with her curiosity and her interest in “going out into nature and reconnecting.”
This year, she’s diving even deeper, not just into science, but into community.
“What impressed me the most was the community building,” she said. “A lot of camps don’t incite that enough, but we have a lot of time to talk to our cabin and become friends.” That sense of connection grows over time. “Because it’s a repeating thing, you come back every year and see the same people, and that’s super nice.”
Still, the science leaves its mark, too. At the pond, Zariah and her fellow campers explored a hidden world. “We learned about all the microscopic creatures and stuff and how that can help the environment,” she said. They’ve also studied “different plants and how to appreciate nature and sustainability around it,” with more lessons still ahead.
And for Zariah, learning isn’t something to get through; it’s something to look forward to.
“It’s going to be so fun,” she said, her excitement carrying into what comes next at Girls in STEM Camp: new programs, new opportunities, and a future that blends creativity, media, and science. But no matter where she goes, her path seems grounded in something simple and powerful: curiosity, connection, and a belief that she can help make the world better.
At Camp, that belief is already taking root.