Meet Annie Gomez-Marroquin, a senior at ERHS who loves STEM and is an active proponent of its various fields.

“My favorite class is definitely mathematics…it is logical and objective, which is imperative when solving any problem,” said Gomez-Marroquin. Her interest in STEM extends from academia and into her extracurricular activities as well. Passionate about STEM – or, more accurately, STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics) – she is well-involved in the community around her. For instance, just this year, she co-founded both the clubs Girls Who Code and GIT at ERHS. The former is “dedicated to teaching girls to code,” she explained, “and the other in immersing students into fun and exciting STEAM related projects.”

Gomez-Marroquin said that she loves “inventing and creating, be it a robot that senses walls or a self-managing compost barrel,” which are consequently activities that her two clubs promote. “Providing maker spaces is something I truly support and advocate. Having a place where students can invent, create, and express is important.”

Fellow senior Sarah Flores commented that “Annie is a hard worker.” Gomez-Marroquin acknowledges this strength; when asked about any defining characteristic she may possess, she answered “grit. I definitely have grit. I don’t turn away from challenges but rather embrace them, and set upon overcoming them.” She also mentioned that her go-to motto is Dory’s pithy “Just keep swimming!” which, in this context, makes perfect sense. Senior Sandra Nguyen provided a torrent of praise: “[She’s] pretty, smart, strong-willed, ambitious, dedicated, and devoted to anything she sets her mind on.”

Speaking of things she sets her mind on, Gomez-Marroquin hopes after high school to attend Wellesley College, and pursue biomedical engineering. She also hopes, perhaps further into the future, to create an organization that closes the technology gap between first-world and third-world countries.