For Boise High School senior Belén Hoobing, some of the most meaningful opportunities have come from trying something new. From exploring STEM through online courses to discovering unexpected career possibilities, her willingness to step outside her comfort zone eventually inspired her to create See It Then Be It, a website featuring interviews with women in STEM careers and the paths that led them there.
Belén’s interest in STEM started early with Legos, mini robots, and science experiments, and IDLA became one way for her to continue exploring her interests while making room for other opportunities. Almost all the summer courses she has taken since sixth grade have been through IDLA. What started as a way to complete required courses and free up her schedule for electives eventually gave her the chance to take classes she was simply interested in, including Medical Terminology. “I kept coming back to IDLA because of how the courses were organized and how solid the course content is,” she says.
Today, Belén is especially interested in neuroscience, an interest strengthened by getting to know residents living with Alzheimer’s while volunteering at a senior living center. But an unexpected experience during her sophomore year helped inspire See It Then Be It. At SheTech, Belén chose an aviation career panel featuring three women pilots. “Up until that moment, I had never considered becoming a pilot,” she says. “I started See It Then Be It, because I wanted to help make those sort of ‘aha’ moments more accessible to high school girls in Idaho.”
As she interviewed more women, Belén discovered that the paths behind their careers were often just as meaningful as the careers themselves. Many had switched majors or changed direction along the way. “I think it’s important for high school girls to realize that they don’t have to have it all figured out going into college and that there are so many things to explore even after choosing a career.” Building the website became a learning experience of its own, helping Belén develop website-building, video-editing, and interviewing skills. “Those communication skills have become just as valuable as everything I learned about STEM careers,” she says.
Now, Belén’s experience as an IDLA student and her work on See It Then Be It are coming together. IDLA plans to incorporate the project into courses, allowing students across Idaho to learn from the interviews and potentially develop interviewing skills of their own. “I love that this means being a part of something bigger than what I could reach on my own, and getting to connect with more students who can learn the same things from these interviews that I did, and actually apply them in the real world.”
As Belén begins her senior year, she plans to attend college and is considering biology, chemistry, or neuroscience. Her conversations with women in STEM have made her more comfortable knowing those plans may change as she discovers new interests. That openness is something she encourages other students to embrace, too. “My biggest piece of advice for students looking to make the most of the experiences available to them is to try things that you might consider outside of your comfort zone and be okay with failure.”
For Belén, that mindset has led to new interests, new skills, and opportunities she couldn’t have predicted. Now, through See It Then Be It, she’s helping other students see more possibilities for themselves. As she puts it, “I think the motto ‘you can’t be what you can’t see’ is important when making decisions about the things you want to pursue or have the opportunity to try.”
Check out Belén’s website for more: https://www.seeitthenbeit.com/
