Mallory Waggoner • Breaking Down Stereotypes

(Chemical Engineering Master’s Student, Sandia National Labs, UNM || NM USA)

“In high school I was focused on having friends, having fun and looking pretty. I didn’t care enough to try hard with my school work. A lot of my life I was told to grow up and be a model or find a rich husband — only apply myself far enough to marry myself off. I got pregnant my senior year of high school and had my daughter when I was a freshman in college. At the time I was studying Business and Spanish because I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. When my daughter was 6 months old I decided to take a physics class for my science elective as I really liked physics in high school. I enjoyed the class so much more than anything I had taken up until then. This was the major flip for me where I suddenly found this undying strength to say, ’You know what, I’m going to get an awesome degree in something really worthwhile and show my daughter that she can do whatever she wants, regardless of who might tell her she can’t.’

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My professors told me that if I didn’t have time to do the work, I would fail — that having a kid was going to put me out of the question. This of course was devastating — nobody should have to hear someone tell them they can’t do it — but I knew I could do whatever anyone else could, regardless of my barriers. Three years later, I graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering and Applied Mathematics. I think it showed the people around me that maybe they could do something they’d told themselves they couldn’t.

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I now work at Sandia National Labs and UNM, researching chemometrics and non-Newtonian fluid dynamics. One of the little joys I get at work is expanding people’s horizons and breaking down social barriers and stereotypes. It makes me feel really good and gives me little wins every day. People ask me all the time ‘How did you do it?’ and I think it’s one of those things where you can’t make excuses. You just have to do what you have to do.”